Guardian Touts Trotskyist Survey
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
Workers in the UK’s offshore oil, gas and renewables sector have called for public ownership of energy companies to ensure that the country’s transition to net zero protects jobs, communities and the environment.
The call comes amid a series of demands to government from a coalition of offshore workers, unions and climate campaigners that aim to shift the industry from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources.
A survey of 1,092 offshore workers for the wide-ranging report, Our Power: Offshore Workers, found that 90% of respondents backed its demands, which also include: government-backed jobs guarantees; an offshore training passport that supports workers to retrain in the renewables sector; a commitment to incentivise investment in ports and factories making products such as wind turbines; and equal pay for migrant workers.
Concerns are growing over the pace of Britain’s transition away from fossil fuels and its ability to create green jobs in manufacturing, production and operations. Data from the consultancy PwC shows the number of jobs being created in the renewable energy industry is growing four times faster than the overall UK employment market. But more than one-third of these roles are based in London and the south-east, particularly in professional and scientific roles.
The report argues that public ownership of energy firms would help to ensure a “just energy transition” offering greater job security and conditions. It paints a picture of long stints at sea and low pay in the face of the cost of living crisis, with British workers paid three times as much as migrant staff.
This joke of a survey was carried out by Friends of the Earth Scotland and an outfit called PLATFORM, who describe themselves:
Needless to say, this was not a proper, professional survey, as would have been carried out by any reputable opinion pollster, but one designed to support a pre-conceived agenda.
And the results are the usual load of Trotskyist drivel, with demands for nationalisation and a share of BP’s profits.
I suspect the vast majority of North Sea oil workers would be much more concerned about the risks to their livelihoods, generated by the very same potty Net Zero policies promoted by Friends of the Earth.
North Sea oil and gas provides well paid work for some 269,000 people, both direct and indirect, with average wages in the sector of around £80,000. FoE would rather like to see these workers redeployed to other jobs in the renewable sector at much lower rates of pay.
Then there is the wider benefit to the UK and Scottish economies, estimated at over £60bn a year.
Maybe the Guardian should commission a proper opinion poll, to ask workers in North Sea oil and gas whether they want to see their jobs destroyed.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Oil companies are already reducing their investments in North Sea Oil/Gas Exploration, Development and Production, some to the point where they will have gone, unless the Government improves the opportunities and rewards.
I bet the CCP are chuffed to rocks about that. Well done Miliband!!
“This joke of a survey was”… reported on by a joke of journalist. Strewth, his predecessor (Jillian Ambrose) was bad but this Alex Lawson plumbs new depths of weapons grade BS.
10-4.
‘Coalition . . . aims to safeguard shift from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources’
Gibberish. A shift isn’t tangible. How do you safeguard the intangible? From the text, it looks like they are trying to safeguard their own heinies.
The demand for nationalisation can only be because they see the writing on the wall, i.e. without govt subsidy, the (non-)renewables industry crashes and burns, and they don’t have jobs. The problem is, with net zero, you get zero economy. That they don’t understand this, and the 1st 2 of Starmer’s Labour goals (thriving economy & Net Zero) are mutually exclusive, is telling.
Absolutely right. I watched the debate on TV last night of the 3 candidates for the post of First Minister of Scotland for any glimmer of recognition that the economy required abundant reliable energy to grow. I wasted my time. They’re all intent on killing their own North Sea Oil and Gas Industry. Shocking, and of course Sunak and Starmer are no better.
Quite a difference from a few years ago when the debate over the Scottish Independence referendum was starting . I remember a BBC reporter questioning a prominent SNP politician about the finances of an independent Scotland and being reassured that the North Sea oil was not as severely depleted as claimed in the media, but would be the mainstay of the future Scottish economy.
Bizarre. Platform have no self awareness and little understanding of how to convey meaning through language. I prefer climate truth to climate justice whatever that is meant to be. The energy democracy is self evident: the majority of power users want cheap power on an always-available basis. As for well managed we all know what a centrally planned economy achieved in the 1930’s
Windmills cannot deliver plastics etc.
It sounds like it was a self selecting survey. In other words a load of nonsense
Almost all of these ‘polls’ are fakes, contrived by activist PR teams to create a media ‘story’ where none otherwise exists.
Guardian and other useful green media idiots then oblige with fawning puff-pieces like this, the sole intention being to influence public opinion. Politicians can then respond by claiming ‘we’re listening to the public on this issue’.
The end result is the UK now has a disastrous energy policy and the dearest energy in our history. And they call this a green energy revolution!
“Almost all of these “polls” are fakes…”
Just PR tricks.
We are a cultural and moral wasteland and, to survive, you must “get in your retaliation first;” and so organizations of all types are wading in the sewers.
I notice that the largest producer in the North Sea says their annual profits were wiped out by the ‘wind-fall’ tax – and it will not invest further there.
In the short term, gas prices everywhere continue to decline*, and so we stagger on, avoiding disaster for a little longer.
*The consumer should actually see a drop if he is lucky.
UK plc used to get ‘a share of the profits’. It was called tax!
However as we already see, Jeremy Hunts greedy windfall tax grabs are driving oil and gas investments out of UK territories faster than passengers fleeing an organic fart in a lift.
We’re going to be highly dependent on overseas energy suppliers at a critical time for UK energy security and also against one of the most volatile political landscapes in living memory.
National energy security should be a non-negotiable obligation, yet we have a UK Parliament playing the stupidest Net Zero games imaginable.
In my opinion this amounts to gross negligence in office.
Yes both gross negligence and incompetence.
Union:
“Nice Net Zero transition you’ve got there. We’d hate to see anything bad happen to it.”
Had to laugh at yet more bs from the Graun.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/mar/07/producers-feared-david-attenborough-would-catch-bird-flu-and-die-during-filming
Comedy Gold.
At least that would have made for an interesting story.
Without wishing to censor (or wish any harm on him of course), the loss of Attenborough from the climate conversation would improve it.
Labour have absolutely no idea about energy generation. Claiming the future is without gas and all renewables !
“Andrew Neil EXPOSES Labour’s Net Zero Madness!!!”
Indeed Mr Robert, not to mention this Trot/Tory government are taxing oil earnings at 85% which is sure way to drive the small oil companies to leave.
An old North Sea tiger here who would have told those idiots pretend surveyors where to go. In any case there are negligible unions off shore – so I don’t know who they allegedly consulted.
These alleged “workers” seem to have finally woken up that the “net zero” and the rest of the “climate” hysterics are causing unemployment. But public ownership is not the answer. The entire scam needs reversing i.e. repeals of taxes, regulations, even threatened bans on what actually works and removal of ALL the subsidies for the things that don’t.