The last couple of weeks have been trying for the SNP as increasing
scrutiny is turned towards both our record as a governing party and one
that seeks to put the interests of Scotland and its people first.
In this sense, the Scottish Government’s moratorium on underground coal
gasification (UCG) is most welcome: there is simply too much unease amongst
the public about the consequences of continuing with UCG and other
unconventional forms of carbon extraction. There are already some who are
trying to definitively conclude the debate but this is not the time for
those, like me, who are unsure as to what the long-term strategy should be.
This is time for a debate in the best SNP traditions.
There has been a remarkable effort from the beginning, by groups and
individuals, inside and outwith the SNP, to highlight the undoubted risks
with beginning unconventional carbon extraction. My email inbox has been
inundated and I have received presentations and information from many
groups, as I know all of my colleagues have too.
This action stands in stark contrast to the energy companies, which have
failed to convince that they can frack safely, or as close to being safe as
possible. The burden of proof must always be with these companies: asbestos
is just one example of a technology that was used without adequate medium
or long-term studies into its robustness. When there is potential to damage
our environment, it is tempting to come to the conclusion that we should
instead focus solely on our undoubted renewable energy potential.
>But many I have spoken to in the renewables sector don’t think this vision
>is feasible. Carbon-based energy, used as a baseload, can give a certain
>amount of security to our energy supply and it is energy security that has
>given me most cause for concern. It has also been the missing dimension in
>the debate. That is why it is incumbent on a party of government, in a
>country that is a global energy leader and has aspirations to
>independence, to take energy security seriously.
And it is not only a Scottish issue: access to unconventional carbon
reserves could fundamentally alter global security and energy balances,
away from the entrenched energy cartels and towards smaller scale producers.
As someone who has campaigned in Parliament to free the imprisoned writer
Raif Badawi from Saudi custody, I know the price of subsidising repressive
regimes; as a trade union member, I resent subsidising Qatar, with its
well-documented abuses of worker rights; and as a gay man I have looked on
in horror at the repression of LGBTI people in Russia. As consumers we
should ask ourselves if we must permanently be tied to these states at the
price of our own energy security. Just as energy companies have yet to
convince on security, environmental groups have not been able to provide me
with answers on this subject.
Scotland has to think carefully too about getting best value for its money.
Is spending £300 million on a pier for imported US shale gas at Grangemouth
a wise idea when we have that very resource in the immediate vicinity of
the complex? How can we continue ensuring that the poorest in our society
can meet their energy needs, at a time when the profiteering of the big six
energy cartels has been well documented?
This is why, as an MP, I know this issue will continue to make me think. I
know there will be much attention paid to it at the SNP annual conference
and I hope those of us who have still to make up our minds will be able to
do so without fear or favour. Just as the trade union group, of which I am
a member, has advanced its position against fracking, so I hope to hear
from those who have the opposite view: that is the responsibility of a
governing party.
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Fortunately, there already exists a fantastic precedent for the party in
the Nato debate. An emotive issue, with fundamental consequences for how we
saw ourselves as a party, it was nevertheless conducted in an atmosphere of
mutual respect, with the conference debate itself impassioned but civil. We
must go forward, keep our eyes on the bigger picture, and continue proving
to the wider public why we are the party that governs for Scotland.
Stewart McDonald is SNP MP for Glasgow South constituency.
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