Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has been accused of a “sad lack of understanding” over Dundee’s failure to attract renewables energy jobs.
City council SNP leader Ken Guild said the national politician appeared not to have done his homework by criticising Nationalist leader Alex Salmond over the issue during a visit to Dundee.
Mr Miliband blamed Mr Salmond for the Memorandum of Understanding he brokered in 2011 to bring hundreds of renewables jobs to the city failing to deliver a single post.
Mr Guild said the development of the renewables industry was in the remit of the London Government and not Holyrood, and the Electricity Market Reform Bill was being delayed in its passage through Westminster.
“Mr Miliband came to Dundee on Friday and made the highlight of his visit the fact that Dundee has not yet got any renewables jobs,” the Dundee council leader told The Courier.
“For a politician with ambitions to be the next PM this surprised me because it is at Westminster where this issue needs to be addressed and where decisions can be taken which would encourage offshore renewables companies to place orders.”
“He didn’t seem to realise that this is the result of what is happening at Westminster. I think this shows a sad lack of understanding of the situation by Ed Miliband. I would have expected more from a prospective Prime Minister.”
The decision by Scottish and Southern Energy to pull back from renewable energy projects has called into question the memorandum signed by SSE, Forth Ports, Scottish Enterprise and Dundee City Council to bring that industry to the city’s port.
Mr Guild said there has been a recent meeting at officer level between the council and SSE to clarify the company’s intentions.
He added: “A lot of manufacturing companies in the renewables industry are involved in mergers and this is complicating things at present.
“We also have to remember that high level decisions are being taken by multi-national companies about investment options, and there may not be much that anyone other than them can do to influence these decisions.”