DOZENS of organisation have joined forces to call on Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney to come out against drilling in the Rosebank oil and gas field.

A final decision on whether to grant a licence to exploit the monster 500 million barrel field to the west of Shetland is expected shortly from the British government.

Concerns are growing among environmental campaigners that the oil and gas price hike sparked by US president Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s illegal attack on Iran may lead to it being approved.

Unite launched its Keep the North Sea Working campaign this week, urging candidates in May’s Holyrood elections not to block oil and gas drilling until a plan is delivered for workers in the sector.

“This government must not let go of one rope before having hold of another,” implored Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.

But writing to Mr Swinney in support of the StopRosebank campaign, dozens of groups, including Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, Oxfam Scotland, Future Economy Scotland, and Friends of the Earth Scotland (FOE), urged a different approach.

They argue that exploitation of Rosebank would not only fail to cuts bills, but produce 254 million tonnes of CO2 — equivalent to almost 70 per cent of UK annual emissions — while funnelling £200m into the coffers of the Delek Group, an Israeli conglomerate flagged by the UN for human rights violations in occupied Palestine.

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland’s Mike Robinson argued that “this latest oil war should be a stark reminder of the urgency of this transition” to renewables.

FOE’s Caroline Rance said: “Swinney should stop listening to oil industry lobbyists and come out swinging against the climate-wrecking Rosebank project.

“If the Scottish government is serious about its claims to bring down energy costs for people, the First Minister must firmly oppose this project that would keep us at the mercy of oil companies who jack up our energy bills whenever they get an opportunity.

“Scotland’s energy future must be built on affordable, reliable renewable energy run in the public interest. 

“The skills and experience of our oil workers must be at the heart of creating a credible and fair transition plan that creates secure green jobs, meets the needs of communities and scales up the industries we can rely on for the long term.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Decisions on consenting for offshore oil and gas projects, as well as those on licensing and the associated fiscal regime, are matters that are currently reserved to the UK government.

“The Scottish government continues to call on the UK government to approach decisions for North Sea oil and gas projects on a rigorously evidence-led, case by case, basis with climate compatibility and energy security as key considerations.”