SNP manifesto hails strength of Scotland's green economy after hopes for windfarm jobs boom fade

John Swinney has tried to demonstrate his commitment to the net zero drive by recycling boasts about the SNP Government’s record that are long past their sell by date.

The first minister made extravagant claims about the progress the Scottish Government has made in the SNP manifesto for the coming Holyrood elections which he launched on Friday.

The manifesto highlighted the importance of energy matters as Mr Swinney tried to reignite the debate about independence following the SNP’s miserable performance in the last Westminster elections.

Just like his predecessors, he insisted Scotland was making better progress towards a green nirvana than other parts of the UK and would move even faster if freed from the dead hand of London control.

 “Scotland is now more than halfway to net zero and we continue to be ahead of the UK as a whole in delivering long term emissions reductions,” the manifesto declared.

“We have harnessed our vast natural resources to develop a leading global renewable energy sector. This has resulted in the regular generation of clean energy that surpasses domestic consumption, supporting tens of thousands of skilled jobs in cutting-edge renewable technology industries.”

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But the Manifesto is notably short of evidence to support those comments.

The claim about emissions reductions lacks detail and seems to ignore the contribution that has been made by the deindustrialisation process in Scotland, which the SNP Government has not slowed.

Efforts to compensate for the devastating closure of the Grangemouth refinery in April last year will rely heavily on £200m funding pledged by the UK Government. The Scottish Government has invested around £20m in the Project Willow plan to reinvent the plant since the refinery closure triggered 420 job losses.

The SNP manifesto........

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