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UK industry plan will disproportionately benefit Scotland - Murray

PA Media Ian Murray with dark hair and a greying beard walks in front of a stone building. He is wearing a blue suit and tie with a white shirt, and carrying a red folder. PA Media
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray says the plan will cut energy prices and help create jobs

Scotland will disproportionately benefit from the UK government's new industrial strategy, a Labour minister has claimed.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said the 10-year plan would help lower energy bills for businesses, improve skills and create jobs.

The UK government strategy focuses on eight sectors, including manufacturing and clean energy, but not one of Scotland's key industries, food and drink.

Murray said the priority sectors were a "microcosm" of the Scottish economy, and defended the decision not to include food and drink.

The Scottish government has raised concerns that measures to reduce energy bills for businesses are not scheduled to start until 2027.

The UK government strategy identifies industries where the UK is already strong and therefore should have the potential for faster growth.

The eight sectors are manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services.

Murray told BBC Scotland News: "It's a great industrial strategy for the whole of the UK but actually it's really disproportionate to Scotland because the eight key growth sectors that are part of that strategy are a microcosm of the whole Scottish economy."

Getty Images A man wearing a high-visibility vest over dark clothes rolls a whisky cask along the ground. He is walking in front of a stack of whisky casks. Getty Images
Scotland's food and drink industry, including the Scotch whisky trade, is estimated to contribute £15bn a year to the country's economy

The Labour minister said that while the food and drink industry, estimated to be worth £15bn a year to the Scottish economy, was not a focus of the strategy, it would benefit from UK trade deals.

"We've done trade deals with the EU, India in terms of whisky and food and drink and the US," the Scottish secretary told the BBC.

"So there is other things sitting alongside the industrial strategy, including on trade deals, that are really benefiting the food and drink industry in Scotland."

He added that the plan could help cut energy bills by up to 25% for more than 7,000 "energy-intensive" businesses by 2027.

What else is in the industrial strategy?

According to the energy strategy, Scotland is to be "at the heart of the UK's energy transition".

The document highlighted commitments to a £750m supercomputer in Edinburgh and £200m for the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also announced £30m for the video games sector - with several developers based in Scotland - and £30m for research and development for each of the devolved nations.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: "The UK government's industrial strategy confirms much of the focus described in Scotland's National Innovation Strategy.

"We will play our part in ensuring any new investment builds on Scotland's strengths in energy, life sciences, critical technologies, advanced manufacturing and the other sectors described.

"Cutting energy costs for businesses is something the Scottish government has long been calling for. However, we are concerned this measure will not begin until 2027."