Nigel Farage has claimed that the Tories “killed the North Sea” as he campaigned ahead of a crucial by-election.
The Reform leader made the claim during a visit to Scotland, where voters in Aberdeen South will go to the polls on June 18.
The by-election – triggered when SNP Wesminster leader Stephen Flynn took a seat in Holyrood – has increasingly become a battle over the oil and gas sector, given the city’s status as the energy capital of Europe.
During his visit, Mr Farage hit out at the previous Conservative Government policy over North Sea oil.
“All I would ask voters to do is remind yourselves who is it that began the closure of the North Sea,” he said.
“It was a Conservative chancellor called Jeremy Hunt – that’s what killed the North Sea and we’re the only party that stood up and opposed that and said it was madness.”
Mr Farage spoke during a visit to Grangemouth, where he is understood to have met with Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
If the UK is going to continue to use oil and gas for energy, domestic production should continue, he added.
“We’re going to be using oil and gas, so why not produce it ourselves?
Mr Farage hit out at the previous Conservative Government policy over North Sea oil
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“Why not have jobs? Why not have tax revenues? Oh, and by the way, while we’re at it, why not have cheaper prices?
“The whole thing’s a madness, and it’s like this cult of Net Zero has overtaken our politicians almost as a substitute for religion.
“We are going to be using oil and gas for decades to come – let’s produce our own.”
SNP candidate in the seat – and former MP – Richard Thomson, said: “Nigel Farage has his eyes fixed on Aberdeen South and our energy wealth – we cannot let him get his hands on it because just like the rest of the unionist parties, he wants to exploit our oil and gas to fill his Westminster boots and send nothing back the other way.
“£400billion has been syphoned off by Westminster from our North Sea with nothing sent back in return except jobs losses on an industrial scale and sky high bills.
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Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt was in the line of fire
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“Only the SNP wants to use our resources to enrich the Scottish people. We do that by putting Scotland’s energy in Scotland’s hands and take sensible licensing decisions that suit our needs and end the Tories’ hated windfall tax on our oil and gas.
“In Aberdeen South, only the SNP is on the side of our energy sector and only the SNP can send Nigel Farage packing.”
Mr Thomson also hit out at the drop in direct offshore jobs from 153,000 to just under 84,000 between 2010 and 2023, blaming the previous Conservative Government for the drop.
“The Tories syphoned off billions from our oil and gas industry and sent nothing back in return, but now we know the cost – 70,000 jobs lost,” he said.
“Kemi Badenoch should apologise for 14 years of Tory theft, destruction and callousness. But Tory candidate Douglas Lumsden accused the SNP of “desperate spin” on the issue.
“The SNP were the first party to call for the windfall tax, which the Scottish Conservatives are committed to scrapping, and they still have a shameful presumption against new oil and gas drilling,” he said.
“This reckless attitude is costing thousands of jobs and billions in lost revenue – so no one is buying their wolf-in-sheep's-clothing act.
“Aberdeen used to be the oil capital of Europe, yet both the SNP and Labour would, crazily, rather import oil and gas from Putin’s Russia than drill in the North Sea, where there are still billions of barrels untapped.
“The Scottish Conservatives are the only party standing up for oil and gas workers in the north east.
“Voting for any other party next week, including Reform, risks an SNP win, which could be the final nail in the coffin for the sector.”
Seen as a three-horse race between the SNP, the Conservatives and Reform UK, voters will go to the polls on June 18.