MICHAEL Shanks has been accused of a "vain attempt" to "rewrite history" after making an "insulting" claim about GB Energy.
The investment vehicle officially opened its headquarters in Aberdeen on Tuesday, following months of delays and controversies around the number of jobs it would create and its role.
Speaking to The Scotsman after the HQ opened, Shanks urged the public to have "a sense of patience" over what GB Energy "will deliver in the future".
Further, when asked if the public had been misled over the number of jobs which would be created, the energy minister claimed: "I think we've always said throughout that there will be a few hundred people working in the HQ, but that Great British Energy's job creation will go far beyond an office in Aberdeen."
However, this is not the case. In October 2024, GB Energy CEO Juergen Maier pledged "a thousand or more" jobs when appearing before Westminster's public bill committee.
Just three months later, Shanks himself defended the pledge, insisting that the UK Government had "not moved away" from its ambition to create "over 1000 jobs".
Maier later backtracked, saying it could take 20 years for Labour to deliver on its pledge of 1000 GB Energy jobs in Aberdeen, instead saying: "Great British Energy itself is going to create, over the next five years, 200 or 300 jobs in Aberdeen. That will be the size of our team.”
According to the latest figures obtained by The National, there were just 29 full-time staff working in Aberdeen as of earlier this month.
In the 26 months since Labour took power in Westminster, GB Energy – initially touted as a public energy company – has been dogged by chaos over a number of key pledges the party made during the 2024 General Election campaign, including the 1000 jobs pledge, and that it would cut energy bills by £300.
The Scottish Greens branded GB Energy a "gimmick", as they accused Shanks of trying to "rewrite history".
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman told The National: “This is another vain attempt by Michael Shanks to cover up the absolute shambles that has been GB Energy.
“Labour had an opportunity to create a publicly owned energy company that could help reduce household bills and the transition to a greener economy that works for our communities and our planet."
“Instead, the Energy Minister seems content to try and rewrite history after promising 1000 jobs yet now backtracking and reducing that number to just a couple of hundred."
Chapman added: “Labour should be focusing on a shift to a genuinely green energy economy with empowered workers and communities, rather than trying to take voters for fools with gimmicks and promised jobs that will never come to fruition.”
Meanwhile, the SNP said it was a "total insult" to tell Scottish households to have "patience" with GB Energy as households struggle with rising bills.
SNP MSP Alex Kerr, the party's national secretary, said: “This just shows how out of touch the Labour Party is that they are happy to stand by and let household energy bills go up by 25% in the coming months – £1000 higher than they promised.
“For people in a nation with our energy resources to be left struggling to afford their energy bills is a disgrace. Every rising energy bill makes the case clearer that Scotland’s energy should be in Scotland’s hands.
“The only people needing to be 'patient' will be those waiting for our excess energy resources after they have served the needs of the people of an independent Scotland.
“Energy-rich Scots should never be fuel poor, and that’s exactly why we need a fresh start with independence.”
The UK Government was approached for comment.
