VINCE Cable is, arguably, one of the last people you would think of who would come out in support of the SNP in a row with the UK Government.
After all, the former LibDem leader is firmly opposed to Scottish independence, even going so far as to propose making it harder for any country to leave the UK back in 2018.
Cable suggested that any vote in favour of independence should be followed by another referendum on the terms of the exit settlement before Scotland leaves.
But he has now questioned the UK Government’s motivations behind a block on a Chinese firm’s £1.5 billion factory in the Highlands, which Westminster said was on national security grounds.
Chinese renewables giant Ming Yang had proposed a large-scale wind turbine factory at Ardersier, outside Inverness, which it said would have created 1500 jobs.
Wading into the row, Cable suggested Labour ministers had stopped the factory going ahead as they did not want to “align with the SNP”.
He told the Scotland China Brief that there were questions around why Ed Miliband, the then-energy secretary, had agreed to the block on the Ming Yang factory despite having previously said that renewable energy should be at the centre of UK-China relations.
Cable even admitted in a blog post that he doesn’t “normally warm” to the SNP, but he had “some sympathy” with former deputy first minister Kate Forbes describing the decision as “sabotage of Scotland’s industrial future”.
"‘National security’ was given as the reason for vetoing the investment,” he wrote. “What exactly was involved is unclear … there are far more obvious ways of engaging with Britain’s energy system including the (minority) Chinese stake in our new nuclear power stations.”
“Since security advice is not, for obvious reasons, in the public domain, it is difficult however to judge how much is prudent caution and how much is simply paranoia,” he added.
In response, the SNP have pointed out that the UK Government has given the green light to Chinese firms investing in numerous sites in England.
This, they say, includes nuclear power plants, London's new Chinese super-Embassy, and Heathrow Airport, as well as investment in English power networks and battery sites.
"This intervention from Vince Cable confirms what most of us suspected all along – the primary reason this investment was stopped was because it's in the Highlands rather than Hertfordshire,” SNP MP Graham Leadbitter said.
The Ming Yang factory would have been situated in Leadbitter's Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency, had it been allowed to go ahead. He has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and urged him to explain why Chinese investment in English infrastructure is acceptable, but not Scottish.
Leadbitter added: "If this UK Labour Government is so concerned about national security, then why is it allowing Chinese firms to invest in nuclear plants, airports, and super-embassies south of the border.
"Whether it's Grangemouth, Mossmorran, the North Sea, and now Ardersier, Westminster stands back in Scotland, while investing in and supporting industry south of the Border - the trend is plain to see.
"The UK Government must now come clean on the reasons behind their ideological block on this manufacturing plant which would have created 1500 jobs in my constituency."
It should not be forgotten that the announcement about the factory being blocked was made during the last First Minister’s Questions ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.
At the time, John Swinney insisted that this was not a coincidence.
The Labour Government can, and most likely will, continue to use national security grounds to wave off any criticism of their decision, but if even Unionist figures like Cable are starting to question their motivations, it will only add more fuel to the argument that Westminster works against Scotland, rather than for it.
