UNITE members who worked at the now-closed Grangemouth oli refinery have called on Sir Keir Starmer to “show us the money,” after six months passed without his pledge of £200 million in National Wealth Fund cash being kept.

The Prime Minister made the promise at the Scottish Labour conference on February 23, as workers at Scotland’s only remaining oil refinery battled to save their jobs and secure a government intervention to transition to green technologies.

Despite that campaign, the Petroineos site closed in April at the cost of around 100 jobs on site, 3,000 more in the wider supply chain and 4.1 per cent of Scotland’s manufacturing output in a single month. 

Launching an open letter to Sir Keir demanding action, Unite’s senior rep at Grangemouth, Chris Hamilton, said: “The community feel abandoned by a government that has promised to help but has so far totally failed to deliver.

“Each month more and more people leave the site through redundancy with empty promises wringing in their ears. 

“This government may have forgot what it promised — but we haven’t.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is little wonder workers are turning away from Labour in their droves when they fail to protect British jobs and critical infrastructure. 
 
“Government failure to act shows there is absolutely no plan for a jobs transition.”

Warning of an “exodus of skilled workers and talent and millions of pounds lost to the Scottish economy” over the last six months, Alloa & Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman told the Morning Star: “Half a year on, it’s not good enough that not a penny of this National Wealth Fund money has been spent and not a job created.  

“The Prime Minister needs to make good on his promise without any more delay.”