INEOS Chemicals: Grangemouth

Frank McNally Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

I sincerely thank the right hon. Gentleman for welcoming the announcement. The season of goodwill really is spreading right across the House. He asks a serious question about the transition. We have made no bones about this: oil and gas is an incredibly important industry for the UK and will be for decades to come; but as the oil and gas basin declines, it is important that there is a transition. Fundamentally, that is the difference between this and previous Governments and the point of our industrial strategy.

The right hon. Gentleman mentions Robert Gordon University, which also identified that 90% of workers in the oil and gas sector have skills that are readily transferable into the 40,000 jobs that we are creating in Scotland in clean energy industries. That is in marked contrast with the SNP. In September, Professor Mariana Mazzucato—he may have heard of her because she was an adviser to the Scottish Government—said that the SNP Ministers in Scotland, on industrial strategy, talk the talk but do not walk the walk. This Government are walking the walk.

[Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)]

Is it not the stark and inconvenient truth for the Opposition parties that for years the Tories and the SNP sat on their hands and allowed the industrial needs of Scotland to go to the wall? Does my hon. Friend agree that, with this £120 million package, this Government are serious about backing our strategically vital industries as well as protecting thousands of jobs on the site and through our supply chains?

[Chris McDonald]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. It really is astonishing how the previous Conservative Government and the SNP Government in Scotland were prepared just to stand by and let the refinery at Grangemouth close after having been given data for years and deciding not to do anything about it at all. He rightly mentions the supply chains, and the multiplier of jobs in the supply chains is much greater. We recognise that this is a good investment for the taxpayer, not just to secure the vital product that we need in our chemicals and defence industries or because the ethylene plant is important in its own right, but to spread the economic benefits through the supply chains in Scotland and beyond.

ExxonMobil: Mossmorran

Frank McNally Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)]

This is devastating news for the Kingdom of Fife. May I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) for her diligent work today and over a period of time on this issue?

Does the Minister share my frustration that despite attempts to fully engage with ExxonMobil over recent months, including through multiple ministerial engagement sessions, the Government were presented with no viable plan to save the plant by the company—despite, as has been highlighted, a £25 billion profit having been made by ExxonMobil last year? Will he outline what steps he will take, working with colleagues both in Scotland and other Government Departments, to ensure that the workforce receives all necessary support through the Department for Work and Pensions rapid response service and Partnership Action for Continuing Employment?

[Chris McDonald]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and colleagues for how they have engaged so carefully on this issue for such a long period of time. I look forward to working with them in supporting the workforce. He makes an important point that alludes to the strategy of the company. The company did not present the Government with a viable investable proposition. It has also closed a chemicals plant in France and has confirmed that it is reviewing its European assets. I think we have reached a point where we have to accept that the company has made its decision. However, even though the company could not find a buyer, as I have said, I understand that some expressions of interest have been made and we would be happy to work with anyone who is interested in the plant. We have vehicles such as the British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund that stand by to support any viable business proposition in our industrial strategy areas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Frank McNally Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Thomas]

I am always happy to work with the Scottish Government and other devolved Governments on how we can improve the business environment. I am sure the right hon. Member will join me in encouraging the Government in Scotland to mirror the changes we have made to business rates relief. Given the sizeable increase in the Scottish budget, it is somewhat surprising that the SNP has not been willing to support the retail sector through an extension of retail hospitality relief.

[Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)]

18. What steps he is taking to help increase levels of international investment in Scotland.

[The Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security (Mr Douglas Alexander)]

The Government are committed to supporting investment in Scotland in line with our growth mission. The Prime Minister recently announced that the National Wealth Fund will provide £200 million of investment in new opportunities in Grangemouth in particular. That announcement came alongside the recently announced £55 million grant for the Port of Cromarty Firth, the two investment zones receiving £80 million over the next five years and our expanded Office for Investment.

[Frank McNally]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. The National Wealth Fund has recently invested £43.5 million in Pulpex Ltd to construct a sustainable packaging facility near Glasgow, which is a welcome move and will support jobs and growth. What further measures are planned to attract similar green industry investments in communities such as my own in North Lanarkshire, which has Scotland’s fastest-growing economy?

[Mr Alexander]

My hon. Friend is a tireless advocate for the communities of Coatbridge and Bellshill. I can assure him that the National Wealth Fund’s strategic partnerships trial will see each local authority within the Glasgow city region, including North Lanarkshire, being invited to submit project proposals, including for projects focused on, I hesitate to say, green jobs in Coatbridge.