FIRST Minster John Swinney has been accused of softening on new North Sea oil and gas extraction amid the ongoing energy crisis.

The SNP leader unveiled a three-point plan to bring down bills on Thursday, including scrapping increases in fuel duty due later this year, lowering the household energy price cap and calling on the government to use post-EU powers for scrapping VAT on household bills and cutting it to five per cent for businesses.

As the British government mulls over the granting of licences to exploit North Sea oil and gas fields Jackdaw and Rosebank however, the price crisis sparked by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, coupled with industry pressure and Unite’s “Keep the North Sea Working” campaign appear to have shifted Mr Swinney’s view on new drilling.

He said: “I’ve got to look at the situation that I face in the country today and the issues in relation to the energy situation in the Middle East causes significant concern and anxiety.

“I’ve got to look at the evidence in the world as it faces me today and make sure that I can take the action to support people in Scotland. 

“But obviously underpinning all of that must be the adherence to the rigorous process of climate compatibility assessment, which has got to apply to any particular development.” 

That final caveat did little to assuage the concerns of Scottish Greens and their climate spokesperson Patrick Harvie. 

While arguing new oil and gas licenses would “shred” Labour’s climate credentials, he said: “It is also deeply disappointing to see the Scottish government continuing to weaken its position even further when they know what the science says and the damage that the climate emergency will do to all our lives.

“There are households all over our country who are struggling and cannot afford the rising costs of energy bills that are being made worse by maintaining a link between the cost of gas and electricity.

“Yet it seems that for Labour and the SNP the response is being set by the fossil fuel lobbyists.

“Scotland has a huge wealth of clean, cheap, green, renewable energy sources on our doorstep. We do not need to drain the north sea of fossil fuels, or keep pumping climate-wrecking pollution into the atmosphere.”