Writing for The Scotsman, the Scottish Secretary insists Labour is backing pragmatism over dogmatism
Jackdaw is a win for Aberdeen, a win for Scottish workers and a win for Britain's energy security.
On Wednesday I joined the Chancellor and the Energy Secretary at the St Fergus gas terminal as she gave the field the green light.
Gas from Jackdaw will reach British homes and businesses as early as the end of this month, boosting domestic gas production by around 6 per cent at its peak. It will protect hundreds of jobs, with 273 roles safeguarded and 27 new ones created, and an estimated £2.9 billion to our economy.
No wonder the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce called it the sort of pragmatic call the North Sea has been crying out for.
And it was done right. Jackdaw should have been producing gas long ago, but the Tories botched the original approval. Campaigners took them to court, their decision was ruled unlawful, and the project was left in legal limbo for years. We had to start again and do it properly, so this decision will stand.
READ MORE: Jackdaw field approved by UK government to 'begin gas supply this winter'
It means producing gas at home rather than shipping it in from abroad, which makes sense for our energy security and our climate goals.
What stayed with me most from the visit was meeting a group of engineering apprentices. They asked the question families across the North East are asking. Will there still be work here in ten years' time?
My answer is simple. There will be no cliff edge for the North Sea.
Our approach is pragmatic, not dogmatic, and every family in Scotland whose wages come from offshore should hear that loud and clear.
Oil and gas will be a central part of the mix for decades to come, as the UK Climate Change Committee has set out, and I want Scottish businesses, Scottish workers and Scottish public services to benefit. North Sea investment means jobs, tax revenues and security of supply in troubled times.
That's why we're also fast-tracking projects tied to existing infrastructure, extending the life of fields and the jobs they support.
And it’s why the Chancellor has launched a new energy wealth fund. Starting with £2 billion and growing as North Sea revenues flow in, it will invest in the clean energy industries that will carry us through the transition.
For years, the SNP-led Scottish Government have demanded a fund like this. Labour has delivered it. And John Swinney’s response? Not a welcome, but a letter of complaint. He found the words to tell the Prime Minister how to spend the fund. He still hasn’t found the words to say whether he backs the field that will help pay into it.
This is a pattern. Scotland is still waiting for the energy strategy the SNP promised years ago, and Aberdeen's workers deserve better.
The coming Rosebank decision will be judged by the Energy Secretary - as Jackdaw was - on the merits, the evidence and our climate obligations.
But let me be clear. The North Sea basin is a vital homegrown national asset. It’s helped power this country for half a century, and it will continue to do so for decades to come.
Under Andy Burnham’s leadership Labour is backing pragmatism over dogmatism, backing the North Sea, the workers who power it and the next generation who will carry its transition forward.
Douglas Alexander is the Secretary of State for Scotland