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Swinney: Scottish Government does not back ban on new oil and gas

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Cite

Paton, C. (2026, November 5). Swinney: Scottish Government does not back ban on new oil and gas. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/scottish-government-uk-government-north-sea-government-first-minister-b1303731.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-11-05 · by Craig Paton

Quick Summary

Scottish First Minister John Swinney stated that his government does not support a UK proposal to ban new oil and gas licenses due to concerns about carbon reduction targets and the ongoing need for fossil fuels. During questioning by Reform UK’s leader Malcolm Offord and Scottish Conservative Russell Findlay, Swinney defended the stance, noting that any applications would be assessed based on their environmental impact. He also criticized the UK government for cutting Scotland's budget while arguing that £2 billion in tax revenues could come from North Sea oil and gas activities.
Written by AI on 2026-11-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 5, 2026, John Swinney, the Scottish First Minister, stated that his government does not support provisions in the UK Government's Energy Independence Bill that would ban new licenses for exploring oil and gas fields. This position marks a shift from the previous stance set by Nicola Sturgeon. During questioning at First Minister’s Questions, Swinney defended the move by asserting that each application needs to be evaluated based on its impact on carbon reduction targets, while also emphasizing Scotland's continued reliance on oil and gas for years to come. Malcolm Offord, leader of Reform UK in Scotland, welcomed this change as a step towards re-industrializing and energizing the country. However, Labour criticized Swinney’s reversal, suggesting that the SNP will seek to remove the ban proposal from the Energy Independence Bill or vote against it if unsuccessful.

Written for “Swinney Breaks With Sturgeon On Drilling” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Swinney Breaks With Sturgeon On Drilling
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 69/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 0 of 19 claims Outlet record 69/100
“While both articles discuss opposition to a ban on new oil and gas exploration, they focus on different aspects of the issue and feature different politicians (Swinney vs. Burnham).”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles discuss related statements by Swinney about oil and gas, but appear to cover different dates and contexts.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8989 article(s) · 74 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 74 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Craig Paton
50 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “New licensing will do nothing meaningful for Scotland’s energy security or the industry’s future.
2026-11-06 · assertive framing · Swinney’s response on oil and gas ‘is incoherent’
🔮 “New licensing will do nothing meaningful for Scotland’s energy security or the industry’s future.
2026-11-06 · assertive framing · Swinney’s response on oil and gas ‘is incoherent’
🔮 Responding, the First Minister said £2 billion would flow into the Treasury in tax revenues from the North Sea, accusing the UK Government of cutting Scotland’s budget by £650 million in real terms.
🔮 The Acorn project in Aberdeenshire was due to receive £200 million in grant funding from the UK Government, but Chancellor John Healey changed the commitment to mean the UK Government would offer the same amount in loans or receive an equity stake in the project.
🔮 During the campaign ahead of May’s election, Mr Swinney shifted his position on the development, which he said should be compared to the carbon implications of importing oil and gas.
🔮 Households assessed as being council tax bands A to D will receive the money, with Mr Healey telling the Commons the devolved nations will receive “their share”.
🔮 Households assessed as being council tax bands A to D will receive the money, with Mr Healey telling the Commons the devolved nations will receive “their share”.
🔮 It is not clear how much funding will come to Scotland as a result of the policy but the Scotland Office has said the Budget will result in a £600 million boost to the Scottish Government’s coffers.
🔮 It is not clear how much funding will come to Scotland as a result of the policy but the Scotland Office has said the Budget will result in a £600 million boost to the Scottish Government’s coffers.
🔮 It is not clear how much funding will come to Scotland as a result of the policy but the Scotland Office has said the Budget will result in a £600 million boost to the Scottish Government’s coffers.
Also by Craig Paton
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 50 articles by Craig Paton →

Topics

Reform UK’s Scotland The Energy Independence Bill the Scottish Government the United Kingdom Government

Subjects

Scotland GPE · 5× Malcolm Offord PERSON · 3× Russell Findlay PERSON · 3× Swinney PERSON · 3× Scottish NORP · 2× the Scottish Government ORG · 2× John Swinney PERSON · 1× Offord PERSON · 1× Reform UK’s ORG · 1× the United Kingdom Government ORG · 1×

Narrative

“But we do not support the provisions of that Bill in relation to the position on the granting of new licences for the exploration of new oil and gas fields, for the simple reason… that any particular applications need to be considered in relation to their impact on our carbon reduction targets and given the fact that we are going to be using oil and gas for years to come.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-05
🔮 Responding, the First Minister said £2 billion would flow into the Treasury in tax revenues from the North Sea, accusing the UK Government of cutting Scotland’s budget by £650 million in real terms.
2026-11-05 · Evening Standard
Swinney: Scottish Government does not back ban on new oil and gas · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 0 hedged)

The announcement drew the ire of both industry and the Prime Minister’s political opposition. asserted
announcement → draw → industry
Under questioning from Reform UK’s leader in Scotland Malcolm Offord, the First Minister said: “The Energy Independence Bill that was introduced by the United Kingdom Government brings together a number of measures that the Scottish Government supports. asserted
Government → say → that
“But we do not support the provisions of that Bill in relation to the position on the granting of new licences for the exploration of new oil and gas fields, for the simple reason… that any particular applications need to be considered in relation to their impact on our carbon reduction targets and given the fact that we are going to be using oil and gas for years to come.” asserted
we → support → years
Lord Offord accused the First Minister of a U-turn on his previous position on oil and gas, saying he was “delighted” with the shift. asserted
he → accuse → shift
He added: “It’s time now to re-industrialise our country again, to re-energise our country again, to get our people back to work and loud and proud again. asserted
people → add → work
“We cannot do that with the most expensive energy in the western world, we are floating on a sea of affordable and secure oil and gas – it is madness to shut down the North Sea. asserted
it → do → Sea
“So let me ask the First Minister again, why has he not fought tooth and nail to keep the North Sea open? asserted
he → let → Sea
It is Scotland’s oil, why has John Swinney abandoned Scotland’s oil?” asserted
Swinney → abandon → oil
Responding, the First Minister said £2 billion would flow into the Treasury in tax revenues from the North Sea, accusing the UK Government of cutting Scotland’s budget by £650 million in real terms. asserted
billion → respond → terms
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay also pushed the First Minister on oil and gas, asking if he supports the Rosebank oil field near Shetland – the same question he asked five times last week. asserted
he → push → Shetland
Mr Swinney again said any approvals must be assessed for the impact on emissions. asserted
approvals → say → emissions
On the Energy Independence Bill, Mr Swinney asked the First Minister if he would whip SNP MPs to vote against the plan. asserted
he → ask → plan
Mr Swinney replied: “We now see a very interesting pattern emerging in this Parliament – it’s the merger of the Conservative Party and Reform, because what Russell Findlay has just asked me is exactly what Malcolm Offord has just asked me, and I’ve set out the Government’s position. asserted
I → reply → position
“There are measures in the Energy Independence Bill that the Government supports because they will help ensure that individuals in Scotland are lifted out of fuel poverty and that we can have further investment and support to enable the schemes that the Government is taking forward to ensure that more renewable capacity can be taken forward in this country. asserted
capacity → be → country
“But the measures in relation to oil and gas developments, the Scottish Government does not support, for the reasons that I have set out already to Russell Findlay and to Malcolm Offord.” asserted
I → support → Offord
Mr Findlay accused the First Minister of “desperate deflection”, adding: “They should vote against Labour’s drilling ban. “We back new drilling, we’d extract every valuable drop of North Sea oil and gas for Scottish jobs, lower bills and energy security.” asserted
we → accuse → jobs
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