I don’t think it’s particularly good politics,” says Fergus Mutch, former SNP head of communications, of the Scottish Government’s proposed presumption against oil and gas exploration. “Secondly, I don’t think it’s particularly good economics. And thirdly, I’m not sure it gets us to net zero any faster.”

Published last month, the long-awaited energy strategy sets out the plan for transitioning the energy sector towards net zero by 2045. Now out for consultation, its top line is a presumption against issuing licences to explore new oil and gas fields – as recommended by independent advisory group the Climate Change Committee. While it is not within the Scottish Government’s gift to stop these licences being issued (it’s a reserved matter), such a stance would be significant symbolically.

Now a managing partner of lobbying firm True North, Mutch gives the strategy short shrift. On the whole he says it fails to recognise the role of energy companies in the transition journey – namely that profits from oil and gas can be reinvested to support green tech.

Indeed, he accuses the government of “energy policy by virtue signal”, arguing that if it did have the powers over licensing, it would be making very different choices. “There’s serious economic challenges in Scotland anyway, post pandemic, about how we pay for public services. To remove energy revenues from that mix, I mean, it would be madness,” he says.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Transport Matters