Prime Minister announces £200m investment in Grangemouth
The money from the National Wealth Fund will be used to attract private investment.
Last updated 23rd Feb 2025
The Prime Minister has confirmed a £200 million UK Government investment for Grangemouth, ahead of the imminent closure of the area’s oil refinery.
Speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday on Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer pledged the cash from the National Wealth Fund, which he said would be an "investment in Scotland's industrial future".
"We will grasp the opportunities at Grangemouth, work alongside partners to develop viable proposals, team up with business to get new industries off the ground and to attract private investors into the partnership we need," he said.
"We will allocate £200 million from the National Wealth Fund for investment in Grangemouth.
"An investment in Scotland's industrial future"
"An investment in Scotland's industrial future, that's the difference a Labour Government can make because we all know what happens if we don't win this race, it's written into the fabric of every community in this nation, the skilled jobs that disappeared, the communities that lost their place in the world.
"Not just the security and dignity of their work, not just their pride and purpose, their identity."
The funding will help to plan the future of the site, with the refinery due to transition into an import terminal in the coming months, risking as many as 400 jobs.
The investment has been welcomed by Unite – although the union says “the devil will be in the detail.”
Announcement given cautious welcome by unions
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is welcome news after months of our campaign and supported by the community of Grangemouth, Keir Starmer and the UK government have finally listened. This needs to be the start not the end in delivering a real workers' transition for Grangemouth.'
“Following this announcement, it is essential that all stakeholders come together to put the meat on the bones and that this investment counts for jobs and our security. Clear timescales will be important as well as details on jobs.”
Elsewhere in his speech at the SEC in Glasgow, his first address to the Scottish Labour conference since becoming Prime Minister, Sir Kier Starmer warned of the threat of reform and the rise of “dangerous right-wing politics.”
Prime Minister warns of the rise of Reform
Hitting out at Nigel Farage's party, he insisted that "beneath their bluster, the alternative they offer is alien to working people".
Attacking Mr Farage and his MPs, he said on their "rare visits to Parliament" they had voted against improved workers' rights being introduced by Labour.
Sir Keir added: "They claim to be the party of patriotism, but they're fawning over Putin.”
On the subject of the Russian president’s war in Ukraine the PM said: “"Nobody wants the bloodshed to continue, least of all the Ukrainians.
"But after everything that they have suffered, after everything they have fought for, there can be no discussion about Ukraine without Ukraine, and the people of Ukraine must have a long-term, secure future.
Sir Keir Starmer urges continued support for Ukraine
“I've seen first-hand the devastation Putin has caused.
"Just a few weeks ago, I was in Kyiv. I met soldiers in the burns unit of a hospital who fought on the front line of freedom, I spoke to children who are growing up under constant bombardment, some of them - primary school-age - have lost their parents to the conflict.
"I've been to Bucha, the town where Russian solders handcuffed civilians and shot them in the head in cold blood.
"Trust me, you don't forget a place like that."
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