Poll shows Scots have had enough of Westminster control of energy

If you thought watching Westminster manage Scotland’s vast energy wealth was painful, the Scottish public have long past reached for the remote control and changed channel.

Fresh polling by Ipsos reveals that an overwhelming 58% of Scots believe decisions regarding oil and gas should rest squarely with the Scottish Government, compared to a minority of 33% who would trust Westminster to hold the reins.

This isn’t a one-off blip; it marks the second time that recent polling has confirmed this is the state of opinion north of the border, as earlier findings by YouGov show.

For half a century, Scots have been treated to the ultimate economic gaslighting act. Listening to London politicians talk about Scotland’s natural resources is like being told Dr Who is a fly-on-the-wall documentary.

Back in the 2014 referendum, the anti-independence campaign paraded around Scotland insisting North Sea energy was a volatile burden – a fiscal anchor that would drag an independent nation straight to financial ruin.

They told us an oil fund was a pipe dream and promised that staying tied to the “broad shoulders of the UK” was the only way to guarantee lower energy bills.

Fast forward to today, and those promises have disappeared faster than a snowman behind a jet engine.

Instead of lower bills, Scottish households living in an energy-rich powerhouse are watching electricity prices rocket, while Labour’s idea of support amounts to a measly £4-a-month discount – about as useful as trying to fix a lorry’s flat tyre with chewing gum.

To make matters worse, official Treasury modelling recently blew the lid off decades of deception, admitting that Scotland should be sitting on a £1 trillion sovereign wealth fund.

Yet, while Norway banked its North Sea bounty into a fortress of public wealth, successive Westminster governments treated Scotland’s energy like a free bar at a Speyside distillery – paid for by everyone north of the border, drunk dry by Whitehall, and leaving Scotland with the empty bottles and a splitting hangover.

Now, Labour Chancellor John Healey is attempting the exact same trick: setting up a UK-wide “Energy Wealth Fund” explicitly propped up by receipts extracted from Scottish waters to plug holes down south.

Earlier this year at Holyrood, MSPs backed a motion calling for energy powers to be devolved directly to the Scottish Parliament – a move Scottish Labour shamelessly refused to support.

Now, the SNP is challenging Scottish Labour’s new leader, Michael Marra, to prove his commitment to Scotland and back the simple, unassailable principle that Scottish energy revenues and decisions must be made and spent right here in Scotland.

Commenting on the polling, SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown MSP has said:

“This poll will send shivers through Westminster. The link to Scotland’s energy to Scottish independence could not be more tightly bound.

“The people of Scotland believe Scotland’s energy should be in Scotland’s hands and the only barrier to that is the Labour Party.

“That simple injustice that we are energy rich, yet energy bills are going up while energy jobs are going down is felt right across Scotland. It’s no wonder Number 10 has ramped up secret independence polling.

“Michael Marra has the chance to stand with the Scottish people, stand up to Andy Burnham and back the simple principle that Scottish energy revenues and decisions must be spent and made in Scotland.

“Every single penny from the North Sea should be invested in Scotland’s renewables future and the fact Andy Burnham wants to take our revenues and spend them down south is exactly why people want those energy decisions made here too.

“The Chancellor admitted Scotland should have an energy wealth fund worth £1 trillion and they are gearing up to play the same trick again. We cannot let that happen and Michael Marra must do what his predecessors never did and raise his head above the parapet.

“Through a fresh start with independence, our energy resources will be put to work for the people of Scotland – that’s how we lower bills, deliver renewables jobs and build a wealthier Scotland.”

Whether the key holder at Number 10 wears a Tory blue rosette or a Labour red one, the outcome for Scotland remains stubbornly unchanged: decisions made hundreds of miles away pick Scottish pockets while squandering Scottish resources.

We are being left out in the cold by a broken Westminster system that treats the nation with an energy powerhouse like an irritating parish council.

With high fuel duty hitting rural drivers – as outlined in the SNP’s analysis of Westminster tax hikes – and grid penalties punishing our green generators, it is blatantly clear that relying on London to safeguard our energy future is a forlorn hope.

As the SNP noted when drawing parallels between Scotland’s natural wealth and Andy Murray, the narrative that Scotland is too small, too poor, or too volatile to manage its own assets has collapsed.

The only way to break free from this endless Westminster “doom loop”, protect our communities from fuel poverty, and ensure our vast wind, tidal, and offshore wealth builds a green, prosperous economy is to take complete control of our own destiny.

The Scottish people are speaking loud and clear in poll after poll – the best, and only, way to secure true control of Scotland’s energy powerhouse is with full national independence.