A Tale of 2 Governments, 2 Parties, and 2 Narratives: Offshore Drilling

A few days ago, the Independent received a copy of a private communique sent from the office of the First Minister of Scotland to Liberal Democrat headquarters. It read as follows.

"The 2030 offshore drilling ban. There is joint support from Scot Gov and Westminster Gov to abandon that because 1- we will still need oil 2- it will be cleaner than importing it from the Middle East 3- North Sea Oil companies have agreed to cut emissions by half by 2030 anyway I believe. Is it going to be delicate to get Scot Gov ministers to support it in WM or are you generally supportive of it as well."

The 2 straightforward reactions to this news was from LPUK. A high level party source told the Independent when asked for a response that, "if these reports are accurate I would encourage the Government to press forward in reversing this ban. A reckless ban that risks our economy and the energy security of the United Kingdom. The oil and gas industry continues to employ hundreds of thousands of people - they have my full support." In contrast, a Labour Party official told us they were "disappointed albeit not surprised, over the past few days we have already seen this increasingly disunified government fall privy to a dangerous faction that wishes to disregard the NHS and our nation's healthcare in favour of a potentially careless and cruel system, why should their approach to the environment be any different."

The response from the two parties in question has been more complicated. On the Conservative side a Scottish  Spokesperson, the party that sent the communique to the Liberal Democrats, told us that "the Scottish Government does not intend to repeal the 2030 offshore drilling ban. Of course, it would not be within our competency to do as it was Westminster legislation and under the Scotland Act, offshore drilling is reserved I believe."

Despite telling us that not only was there no intention to repeal the ban, but that policy matters on that front were entirely reserved to Westminster, a source proceeded to inform the Independent that the First Minister immediately proceeded to try to find the source of the leak of the discussions, the ones their spokesperson claimed could not have happened.

On the Liberal Democratic side, no comment has been given so far, but sources have confirmed to the Independent why that may be the case. Immediately upon providing the source to the Liberal Democrats for comment, the Independent has received from two separate sources the following chain of events.

First, the Scottish Liberal Democrats told their national leadership that they had not reached a deal with the Scottish Government to support a removal of the ban, and that furthermore, they were adamantly opposed to such a removal occurring.

Next, a member of the national leadership subsequently said that their press response should be that they support the removal of the ban, but that it should emphasize the need to phase out fossil fuels.

Several members of the Liberal Democrats, both in and out of Scotland, repeated their opposition to the move, and subsequently threats of rebellion were made.

Finally, the last update as of publication, the same aforementioned member of the national leadership said that those discussions warranted a reassessment of the matter.  

Whatever conclusion the Liberal Democrats come to, all that is clear for now is that narratives have begun to compete with one another. With multiple sides offering contradictory stories, how they reconcile themselves in public has yet to be revealed.