© Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his deputy Richard Tice visited Aberdeen on 2 June and made clear their opposition to net zero. They also laid out plans as to how they would revoke such policies and inspire a new renaissance in drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.
I’m surprised they didn’t parrot President Trump’s “drill baby drill” mantra.
Nigel Farage said his party was a “fresh positive voice” between what he classified as the “seesaw” between Labour and the SNP. He also made clear that Reform UK would aim to grant oil and gas licences in the North Sea as well as supporting fracking and opening new coalmines.
Unsurprisingly, this has upset the Scottish Greens. Co-leader and MSP Patrick Harvie once again demonstrated the party’s lack of understanding of reality when he patronisingly accused Reform UK of “courting donations” from oil and gas companies.
He added: “It’s no surprise that Farage and his cronies are desperate to do everything they can to shore up the astronomical profits of global corporate interests by promising a carte blanche to fossil fuel giants in the North Sea and across Scotland.”
There speaks someone blinded by ideological zealotry.
Having said that, whilst I am a strong advocate for continuing to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea, I also strongly believe that the move to alternative forms of energy is necessary and unavoidable.
The issue for me has always been ensuring a ‘just’ transition, providing a bridge for skilled workers between both industries, and making the most of what oil and gas we have at our disposal to avoid importing from others. I certainly don’t believe a policy based on oil and gas alone has any sort of future.
I also know the message from Reform UK is attractive to many people. It is clear, it is understandable and it strikes a chord with many people by addressing their concerns. It is foolhardy to write Reform UK off as racist or fascist. That simply reinforces the narrative of many people of a political elite unconcerned with the worries of the ordinary man and woman on the street.
So what needs to be done to defeat the Reform UK message is to find a way to address those concerns and show that they are wrong. Calling them names is as wrong as their name calling of others.
The failure of the traditional parties to understand the appeal of the Reform UK message is clear, following the results of a poll conducted for True North Advisers. This highlighted the possibility that Reform UK could overtake the Labour Party and become the second-most popular party in Scotland after the SNP. That is quite the development. Who would have thought that a year ago?
But in reality, are Reform UK a real political force in Scotland?
The answer to that has to be yes – as I say above, they have a message that is appealing to many. But are they a good option? That is the question that anyone attracted to the party will have to consider. Do their policies make sense and are they likely to succeed?
Personally, I don’t think they are a good option and I won’t be voting for them – but it certainly isn’t for me to tell other people how to vote.
Regardless, Reform UK are changing, and have changed, the electoral dynamic in the North East. Their surge in the polls has thrown a spanner into the works of traditional politics in the region (as well as in Scotland and the UK more broadly). So they cannot be written off and it would be extremely silly for anyone to do that.
At the very least, the traditional parties need to look at the points they are raising, question why they are having so much success, and figure out how they might counteract that success.
It is important they do so. The continued economic success of Aberdeen and the North East is dependent on rational and sensible policies. Ones that include a recognition of the need for oil and gas as we bridge towards other types of energy.
And the bottom line, which all parties must not forget and must pay more than lip-service to is, is as I said in my previous piece for Energy Voice:
“What we have to do is remember one thing. That this is about the people of Aberdeen, the North East and the UK – the workers impacted by policies and the consumers impacted by higher prices.”
At the end of the day, that’s what is important. Nothing more, nothing less.
