Speeches by Crichton.

“Because they lose who they are. They lose their identity.”

“I want to talk about the human impact with you, Donna, but I have two quick pick-ups on what Russell and Richard said. Russell, you spoke about the supply chain going away, and we will not be able to recreate it if the skills are not there. Should we be seeing the North Sea supply chain as a question of national securi…”

“Going and not coming back.”

“There is a lot of stress and anxiety. You talked about issues with joblessness. GMB talked last week about a cliff edge coming up here, and this is a real mental health and financial crisis coming into Aberdeen as well, isn’t it?”

“Time is short, so very quickly, Richard. You touched on nuclear, and we hear anecdotally that people leaving North Sea jobs, very complex engineering challenges, move into renewables and find that the challenge is not there, so they go straight into nuclear. Are you seeing that?”

“I want to talk about the human impact with you, Donna, but I have two quick pick-ups on what Russell and Richard said. Russell, you spoke about the supply chain going away, and we will not be able to recreate it if the skills are not there. Should we be seeing the North Sea supply chain as a question of national securi…”

“You mean the workers and not just the components?”

“And what you are all saying is that there is a human value to that, as well as an economic value.”

“You anticipate my last question, because we have been here before in the mining communities—”

“Columbo-style, I have one last question. Susan and Michael have both alluded to the difference between the availability of funding and emphasis on training for young people at a UK level and a Scottish level. Is there a mismatch there? Are we missing something in devolution or does devolution add something extra to the…”

“Did Aberdeen itself do enough to prepare for this?”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I thank the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) for securing this important debate. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Douglas Lumsden) on his recent win. Of course, his was not the only big win in Scotland in recent times. In Na…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for that intervention. I hear him and I hope Ministers hear him as well. In that transition, we on the west coast and he in the Northern Isles have a privileged vantage point. We look eastwards to the North sea and the jobs and fortunes that it has provided to our islands, and we look west…”

“I know that, but you would let the rest go tomorrow, wouldn’t you?”

“I declare my membership of GMB as well, which is just as well because jobs and the just transitions are at the centre of this. Tessa, I hear what you say about there being no room for new oil and gas developments if we are to stay within the 1.5° target. The bottom line people will hear out of that is that you are will…”

“Why can’t we do both? Why can’t we maximise renewables and maximise extraction of oil and gas?”

“Our last question on that subject: what can ports do to take advantage of transition and what do you want to see from the Government to help you take advantage of this transition?”

“Time is short, Tessa, so I have to move on to other people. David, your evidence is very strong, but conflates two things—the oil and gas sector, and that makes billions of pounds for multinationals, which you are a part of, and the community and the workforce, and I have colleagues who go out to do that work. To pick …”

“I asked about the winners. There are going to be losers as well because ports will compete, will they not?”

“I have only two more questions, and I can anticipate the next one. Where is the North sea workforce going? When I meet them at airports, they are going to Taiwan, south-east Asia, or the Caribbean.”