Richard Leonard MSP: Spectre of job losses still hang over our communities

From Petroineos in Grangemouth to Haven in Larbert, and from Alexander Dennis to retail and hospitality businesses in our village and town centres.

There was pressure from cuts to local services too: from our classrooms to our railway stations.

Some of these threats have been seen off for now, but as we enter 2025 many of them still loom over this community.

For the workers at Haven, 2024 ended with the Scottish Government agreeing to step in when their future was threatened following the loss of two key public sector contracts. There is still much work to do to avert job losses and I will continue to raise the case of these workers inside parliament, but what their campaign has shown is that

political action outside parliament is equally as important.

That is why we must keep up the pressure over the disastrous proposal to close the oil refinery at Grangemouth. I was proud to host representatives from the trade union Unite to meet MSPs at the end of last year and I will continue to support them in the coming weeks and months as they make the case to keep Grangemouth working.

No one I have spoken to thinks that we can simply go on relying on fossil fuels. But everyone recognises that while we will not, and cannot, use oil indefinitely, we still need energy to power our homes, vehicles, businesses and industries. A strategy of relying on imports is not in the national interest.

The transition to a greener economy is inevitable. A just transition, led by workers, is a necessity, and Unite has a detailed alternative plan for Grangemouth. Both the UK and Scottish governments now need to match their rhetoric with action and get behind it.

I do not want to be here in 12 months time lamenting missed opportunities to save jobs and protect services. When we look back on 2025 let’s make sure it is with pride and a sense of achievement.

Happy new year.