Money to burn
Socialist Organiser1981 1981-09-24Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 14 →
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KICK OUT THE TORIES! 5Op including postage THE crazy logic of Thatcher-. ite economics is exemplified by the decision of the Cabinet not to invest public money in the projected North Sea gas pipeline.
Even Tory spokesmen and industrialists are horrified at the prospect of £50 billion worth of gas being flared off above the waters of the North Sea for want of a pipeline to bring it ashore. The expression "money to burn" has certainiy been given a new meaning , by the lories in office.
The refusal of the government to back the £2.7 billion gas gathering project has sealed its fate. Tory hopes of its being totally financed by the oil companies has already collapsed = he :ace of a clear negative == :32: S3102.
Ni sabin decision of •= 2=13=0 mail the goremment =.. lowering the level of petroleum revenue tax and raising the price they would get for the gas. They may still hope to exact that concession in return for some agreement on investment in the pipeline but the immediate situation is one of total collapse of the scheme.
Even Tory spokesmen in Scotland are aghast at the implications of the Cabinet decision which wipes out the prospects of thousands of new jobs in steel and construction. A spokesperson for the CBI in Scotland Thatcher bemoaned the loss of "not just the pipeline project itself but all the spin-offs fo: the construction and steel industries and the suppliers of the necessary equipment."
It has been estimated that an extra 11,000 jobs are involved. The cancellation of the project can only mean more insistent demands by McGregor for a further 3,000 redundancies in the steel industry.
Since the decision of the Cabinet, obviously under strong pressure from Chancellor Howe and the Treasury, there have been tentative moves by some of the oil companies towards building other smaller pipelines to supplement those from the Frigg and Brent oilfields already in use.
It is possible that some such weaker option will be the conclusion of the affair but it cannot disguise the fact that the reckless squandering of vital resources is the hailmark of Tory economic strategy.
IAN MCCALMAN from Socialist Organiser 28 Middle Lane, N8 O-gonser Chee AL
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