THE Scottish Government has “never” been told why their UK counterpart blocked a Chinese firm’s £1.5 billion investment in the Highlands – and they “need” to be informed, the Scottish Culture Secretary has said.
Speaking to media during a visit to Bellshill on Monday, Mairi McAllan said she and her SNP colleagues had not been allowed a “proper understanding” of the UK Government’s decision to prevent renewables giant Ming Yang from building a wind turbine factory at Ardersier, near Inverness.
The privately-owned Chinese firm had said its proposals for the factory would create 1500 jobs, but the Labour Government blocked them from going ahead in March this year, citing “national security” concerns.
Questions have been raised as to why the UK Government blocked the £1.5bn investment despite allowing other Chinese projects, with closer ties to the country’s government, south of the Border.
The China General Nuclear Power Group – a state-owned company – owns around 27% of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset, while the state-owned China Investment Corporation has a 10% stake in Heathrow Airport.
Speaking to media on Monday, McAllan said that the UK Government block on the Highlands investment also did not seem to chime with Labour’s messaging, noting that former prime minister Keir Starmer had visited China on a trade trip in January.
McAllan said: “What we had was the former prime minister visiting China in a breakthrough visit, seeking to improve trade relations and other relations with the Chinese, but then at the same time being unwilling to entertain the prospect of investment in renewable energy in Scotland – and without Scottish ministers feeling that they had a proper understanding of that.”
She went on: “Of course national security has to be taken firmly into account, but what the Scottish Government is saying is you should have engaged us on those points, and we ask you to reconsider them to make sure that it was the right judgment.
“National security concerns have to be thrashed out, understood fulsomely, but we were never informed as to the case that led to it being rejected, and we need to see that.”
Last week, SNP MP Graham Leadbitter wrote to the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, asking him to visit the Highlands to “explain why Chinese investment in English energy and critical infrastructure is fine, but when it comes to jobs in Scotland it is a very different story”.
A UK Government spokesperson said at the time: “After careful consideration the government concluded that there are national security risks associated with the use of Ming Yang wind turbines in UK offshore wind projects.”
Former UK business secretary Vince Cable has also questioned the UK Government’s decision, suggesting to the Scotland China Brief that Labour had blocked the £1.5bn investment because "Westminster-based parties" are "reluctant to align with the SNP administration".
Elsewhere, McAllan was asked about the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields, which the UK Government will decide whether or not to approve for development in the coming weeks.
The Culture Secretary said: “So long as the Scottish Government isn't making these decisions, all we can do is set the principles by which we expect them to be made.
“That is a case-by-case assessment of each bid for exploration, taking into account climate obligations, which is not just a ‘nice to have’. It is both a legal obligation and absolutely evident to anyone who's living in England just now – with their scorched, scorched parks and their agriculture suffering – how vital that is.
“But equally, it has to be balanced against energy security. I would very much love it if my colleagues and I were sitting around the Cabinet table looking at the details and all of this and making decisions. We're not. All I can say is the principles.”
