Keir Starmer makes major announcement on GB Energy's future
Keir Starmer has confirmed exactly where the energy firm will be headquartered.
GB Energy will be headquartered in Aberdeen, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Sir Keir and Labour had promised in the lead-up to the election that GB Energy which he has described as an "investment vehicle" would have its headquarters north of the border, sparking speculation and repeated questions over where it would be located.
In his first speech to the Labour Party conference since entering Downing Street in July, the Prime Minister said the agency "could only ever be based in one place in Scotland".
Addressing delegates in Liverpool on Tuesday, he said: "We said, GB Energy, our publicly-owned national champion, the vehicle that will drive forward our mission on clean energy, we said it belonged in Scotland, and it does."
"But the truth is, it could only really ever be based in one place in Scotland."
Don't miss...
Keir Starmer handed grim warning — and it could be about to get worse
Starmer heckled by protester as Labour Party Conference thrown into chaos
"So today, I can confirm that the future of British energy will be powered as it has been for decades, by the talent and skills of the working people in the Granite City, with GB Energy based in Aberdeen."
Within minutes, the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, which had been campaigning for the agency to come to the region, hailed the "fantastic news" which it said will "secure the north-east's status as a global energy capital for many decades to come".
Its chief executive Russell Borthwick added: "With the people, skills, strategic infrastructure and future pipeline of projects already in place, the north-east of Scotland is ready to lead the way."
"However, we do not need to kill off one industry to grow another in fact, the opposite is true, as one cannot exist without the other."
"We therefore urge the UK Government to use next month's Budget to restore confidence in the North Sea to protect the jobs, supply chain and energy production we need to ensure a just transition."