Sarwar: Labour will still invest in green economy despite axing £28bn pledge

A Labour government will still invest in Scotland’s ports and the renewables supply chain despite the £28 billion green investment pledge being dropped, Anas Sarwar has said.

The Scottish Labour leader also unveiled his party’s “business case for Scotland” document, saying he would take an alternative approach to the SNP around business.

Last week, Labour announced it was drastically scaling back its key commitment to spend £28 billion a year on green projects to £23.7 billion over the whole course of the next Parliament.

During a visit to a technology laboratory in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Mr Sarwar was asked if Scottish parts of the green investment package could still go ahead under the funding threshold.

He said elements like GB Energy, a publicly-owned energy company based in Scotland, and the green jobs fund would remain.

The Scottish Labour leader said: “The details of that were well below the figure that was set out at that conference two years ago.

“So those policies absolutely stand. And we will be investing in our port infrastructure, in our supply chain jobs here.

“We’ll be investing in onshore wind, offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage.”

He continued: “I also want us to have an open debate about supporting micro nuclear here in Scotland.

“These are all huge opportunities for us that I want Scotland to maximise the benefits from, but it only happens if we get that UK Government.”

Mr Sarwar went on to say the SNP are “resetting a bad relationship with business because of how broken down their business strategy has been”.

Humza Yousaf announced a “reset” with business after becoming First Minister last year, changing some of the Scottish Government’s policies which had caused concern in the sector.

The Scottish Labour leader also said he wanted to see a “decluttered landscape” among Scotland’s development agencies, while backing regional development plans for each area of Scotland.