Donald Trump should butt out of UK politics and concentrate instead on fixing America’s problems.
The US president-elect yesterday claimed the North Sea should be opened up for new oil fields – instead of
renewable offshore wind. Trump has long complained about offshore windfarms since one was built near his Menie estate golf resort on the Aberdeenshire coast.
His stringent opposition in the late 2010s saw him fight and lose a series of costly legal battles over the decision to grant the windfarm planning approval. He pushed it all the way to the UK Supreme Court in 2019 and still lost. Trump has now used the news that a Texan oil firm is ending its North Sea production ahead of schedule in 2029 as an excuse to have a go at the UK Government’s windfall tax on energy profits.
It should be remembered this was a levy first introduced by the previous Tory administration as a way of clawing back some of the obscene profits being generated by multinational companies. Labour has rightly continued the windfall tax as a way of raising revenues. Scotland is already making progress down the difficult road towards a world less reliant on oil and gas. Demanding a sudden return to oil exploration and extraction simply isn’t practical in 2024. Scotland, whether Trump likes it or not, must look to the future.
Give cops power
As organised crime in Scotland has become more sophisticated police officers have had to adopt new techniques to fight back. Police Scotland has had some success on that front, using sophisticated methods to tackle the gangsters. Breaking into the criminals’ secret “encrochat” communication system has enabled law enforcement agencies to score many notable successes.
But according to a ex-top cop, Graeme Pearson, a more sophisticated approach is needed to tackle a new breed of Albanian gangs who have taken over the cannabis farming criminal trade. Former MSP and drug enforcement cop Pearson says power companies and police need to work together to identify the farms – and smash them. The bosses of these underworld enterprises clearly believe Scotland is an easy touch.
And it is a matter of time before we see turf wars breaking out between rival operators. That’s why it is essential that energy companies do what they can to stop the gangs in their tracks. These companies have proven in the past that they can disconnect household supplies for an unpaid bill in a flash. So they should use all means available to flag up the power surges that accompany every cannabis cultivation – and help cops put the gangsters behind bars.
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