LABOUR’S plans to use Scotland’s oil and gas resources to fund a council tax freeze in England have been branded a “slap in the face”.
The SNP hit out at the proposals, raised by shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy on Sunday, calling them “unbelievable”.
Nandy, the Labour MP for Wigan, said that if Labour were in power they would fund a council tax freeze this year by taxing “record” oil and gas profits.
The National has asked Labour whether the proposal is official party policy.
She tweeted: “2022 was a record year for North Sea oil and gas profits. If Labour was in government right now, we’d be using a proper windfall tax on those profits to fund a council tax freeze this year.
“Government is about choices. A Labour government will make fairer choices.”
Audrey Nicoll, the SNP MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, said it should be the people of Scotland who benefit from the vast wealth of resources in the North Sea.
2022 was a record year for North Sea oil and gas profits. If Labour was in government right now, we’d be using a proper windfall tax on those profits to fund a Council Tax freeze this year. Government is about choices. A Labour government will make fairer choices 🌹 pic.twitter.com/xcVt2WURON
— Lisa Nandy (@lisanandy) April 2, 2023
She said: “People are used to shameless hypocrisy from the Pro-Brexit Labour party, but for them to now be boasting about using Scotland’s resources to fund a council tax freeze in England really is unbelievable.
"This is a slap in the face to people across Scotland, who are already paying more than the rest of the UK on energy bills and would rightly expect to reap the benefit of the vast resources on our doorstep.
"From attempting to scaremonger about our oil and gas resources to misleading people that the only way to remain part of the EU was by voting No - it's clearer than ever that Better Together's campaign speciality of empty rhetoric and broken promises is still going strong.
“Scotland is an enormously wealthy country – and it’s clear that only independence allows us to maximise the benefits of our immense resources to build a fairer, more prosperous country.”
Alba's secretary-general Chris McEleny said: "Whether Scotland has a Tory or a Labour government imposed upon us some things will never change: weapons of mass destruction at a cost of £200 billion will be placed on the Clyde.
"Regardless of who runs Westminster both the Labour Party and the Tories are committed to ensuring that Scotland is denied access to the European Single Market despite allowing Northern Ireland the lucrative trade links.
"And on the issue of Scotland’s enormous oil and gas bounty, whether it’s Labour in government or the Tories, both will ensure that international capital makes the profits, Westminster seizes the revenues and energy-rich Scotland continues to have our people living in fuel poverty.
"Continuity won’t cut it, Scotland needs independence now to ensure that power to Scotland means that our energy potential is unleashed for the benefit of our people.”
