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Grangemouth is how not to do a transition, expert warns MPs
Members of the Unite union march and rally at the Scottish Parliament in protest at Petroineos plans to close Grangemouth oil refinery, November 28, 2024

GRANGEMOUTH oil refinery’s immienet closure will stand as a “shining example of how not to do anything,” the Just Transition commissioner warned today.

Richard Hardy made the remarks as he appeared before MPs at Westminster’s Scottish affairs select committee, but not before a thinly veiled attack on Sir Jim Ratcliffe, anti-trade union owner of Ineos, whose joint venture with PetroChina, PetroIneos, owns the Grangemouth site.

He referred to a £600 million loan guarantee given to Ineos by the last Tory government to build a new facility in Antwerp, still in place despite plans to close Grangemouth with the loss of 400 jobs on site and more than 2,500 in the wider supply chain.

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