Grangemouth to close?

[MoleAtTheCounter]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-67497023

400 jobs (many highly-skilled), 4% of Scotland's GDP and 8% of its manufacturing base. This would be terrible and I expected it to be all over SM but I have only seen it in a corner of the BBC.

It'll seriously screw up the Falkirk area for employment. My sil is dependent on the refinery for his job. Ineos have been threatening it for years though. The Scottish Government need to nationalise it and not wring their hands ineffectively

It's all over my social media feeds. Terrible news fir the area and for Scotland.

he Scottish Government need to nationalise it

No they don't. They are already pissing away money on keeping Prestwick Airport open at a huge loss. By all means invest money in alternative industries in the area, retraining etc. But nationalising a business which is not profitable is lunacy.

I think it might well be nationalised

Their wee pals in the Greens would love that, being part-owners of an oil refinery.

The greens should be delighted! Oh...

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b725c6bd-1155-4a18-8b60-ebb0a4b73b20?shareToken=1b9687a46a19874f6426edfe0b270509

Nationalise it and continue running it at loss?

Why not? It continues to employ over 400 directly and many more indirectly. It keeps refining in Scotland as an industry instead of being reliant on other countries. Thatcher got rid of the steel making industry in Scotland and as a result we have to buy from elsewhere. If they have other plans, it would be helpful for the area to know what they are.

We do not keep loss-making stuff open. what a pointless exercise. Prestwick handling a couple of flights a day, people sitting twiddling their thumbs having their salaries paid by the taxpayer. Madness.

If they want to throw money at supporting jobs in that area then set up development zones, work on getting investment from other companies in the area, training and upskilling for workers etc etc etc. This is the SNP all over though, economically illiterate.

Think a lot of it has become a personal battle between Jim Ratcliffe/Ineos and the workforce there.

Unite never really got over having their arse handed to them a decade ago and have spent the last ten years picking fights, some justified, some not, some official, some not.

Ratcliffe was quite honest for years that he didn’t think it was worth the hassle and was planning an exit, but found it difficult to unload.

Whether it should be nationalised is another matter entirely, lots of factors to take into account such as short term energy security and long term environmental strategies.

Plus the cost of running it as a deficit is huge, not entirely sure the country should pay for a failed/unviable business.

The thing is though that Falkirk is well placed for access to Glasgow/Edinburgh so there are alternative employment opportunities, it’s not the same situation as mining villages that are cut off and relied on one industry.

I would much rather they nationalised this than prestwick airport. Surely the Ukraine war has taught us that we need to retain such infrastructure rather than being reliant on energy from abroad?

This would be pretty devastating for the east Falkirk area, many of the high earners in that area work for ineos or associated contractors. Lots of people travel from Aberdeen and down south to work in the plant and are put up in local hotels and use local businesses while they are here.

We all know what happens when money leaves an area, it becomes depressed and deprived, with crime and substance misuse, poverty etc.

Also.lots of young people,.young men in particular set their sights on apprenticeships with ineos, it sets them up for life with a skilled job and good income, there's no replacing that in the area for those young folk.

Grangemouth is one of 7 refineries in the UK and is responsible for 15% off overall production.

Several of the other refineries have recently had investment to increase efficiency.

The risk of doing this in Grangemouth was high as the union opposition and repetitive strikes were too much of a financial risk.

The increased efficiency from the other plants will more than cover Grangemouth’s contribution.

Energy security is not threatened by the refinement process, it’s threatened through shortage of crude material.

Closing Grangemouth would have no effect on the supply chain other than another transportation step.