Kemi Badenoch has accused the SNP and Labour of ‘running Scotland down’ and warned that Europe’s oil capital is ‘dying’ because of their policies on oil and gas.
The Tory leader said it is ‘heartbreaking’ that Aberdeen is ‘fading away’ due to ‘bad management’ by the Scottish and UK governments.
She stepped up her calls to ‘drill baby drill’ and said that supporting new fields can unleash £150 billion of new developments in the North Sea.
And she insisted that Scotland needs the Tories to bring the message of ‘sound money, fiscal responsibility and a stronger economy’.
It comes after Russell Findlay pledged that the Scottish Conservatives will be ‘Scotland’s party of economic opportunity’ and make efforts to boost growth his top issue in the run-up to the Holyrood elections.
Speaking at a Scottish reception at the Conservative conference in Manchester, Ms Badenoch said that when she boarded a plane to Aberdeen last month other passengers told her: ‘Please help us, Aberdeen is dying.’
She added: ‘It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear that. Aberdeen is one of those places that is so synonymous with growth and wealth and prosperity. But due to bad management, bad government by the SNP and Labour it is fading away.
Kemi Badenoch has blasted the SNP and Labour for their drive to net zero – and said they are ‘running Scotland down’
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay told conference the Tories will be ‘Scotland’s party of economic opportunity’
‘I don’t think my views on net zero are news to anyone in this room but making sure that “drill, baby drill” was a policy which we applied to the North Sea has been at the forefront of all of our policies.
‘We need to back oil and gas. It is completely crazy that we are importing fuel from Norway drilled in the North Sea while banning drilling in the North Sea ourselves. And the people who don’t understand that gas is a transition fuel if we are going to tackle carbon emissions, the people who don’t understand that are the same people who are running Scotland down.
‘They’ve never worked in business, they don’t know where money comes from, they just think you just shake a magic money tree.’
During the Tory conference, the party has relentlessly focused on efforts to control borders and boost the economy.
Ms Badenoch said: ‘At a time when we know we are in a dire straits economically there is £150 billion lying in the North Sea.
‘That is money that will get not just Aberdeen, not just Scotland but the whole of the United Kingdom growing again and we need to make sure that the Conservatives come back and get oil and gas out of these fields.’
Since coming to power, the Labour government has banned new oil and gas licences. It has also increased the windfall tax on North Sea profits to 38 per cent, which results in an overall 78 per cent tax rate on oil and gas profits, and also extended it to 2030.
Labour’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is reportedly now considering approving ‘tie backs’, which would allow new exploration at oil and gas sites adjacent to existing fields.
Last month, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the SNP Government now supports deciding whether to support new drilling on a ‘case by case basis’.
Industry leaders are also pressing hard for Labour to reduce the tax burden on firms and fear that any move to allow some new fields will be worthless as new development won’t happen unless action is taken on the levels of taxation.
During her speech to the Scottish reception, Ms Badenoch also said that during the upcoming Holyrood election campaign needs to highlight the need for economic growth, and condemned how the UK is borrowing to pay for welfare – and she said that Scotland is ‘one of the places where we see this problem most clearly’.
Ms Badenoch said: ‘We need a Conservative Party in Scotland, we need Russell to do well, we need people who can bring the message of sound money, fiscal responsibility and a stronger economy.’
She added: ‘The public need to know that there is a serious and responsible party out there. We acknowledge the mistakes we made, we know we got things wrong, but we are optimistic about our future.
Aberdeen was seen as Europe’s oil capital during the North Sea boom, but Mrs Badenoch warned the city was ‘fading away’ due to bad management by the Scots and UK governments
‘We are the decent centre-right, we are the compassionate centre-right. We are the ones who think about the impact on people who look after people. We need to remember who we are and we need to get out there and keep fighting for Scotland and for the United Kingdom.’
She said the party ‘can spend all day criticising our opponents’ but needs to focus on what the Tories can do, including growing the private sector – and claimed people are ‘leaving our country in droves’ under the SNP’s tax regime and now Labour’s.
She added: ‘That is what I’m going to do for you: give a strong economic message that we will make sure that the Scottish people, when they get to the ballot box, can see that there is a credible alternative to Labour, to the SNP, and that is us, the Conservative Party.’
In his main stage speech to the Conservative conference on Sunday, Mr Findlay accused the SNP of turning Scotland into ‘a laboratory for weird and wacky policies’ with its ‘woke’ policies.
He also told a fringe event that the Scottish Tories will be ‘Scotland’s party of economic opportunity’.