In a move that will surprise absolutely no one who has been paying attention to the Labour Party's ongoing identity crisis, Scottish Labour's new leader, Michael Marra, has backed the development of the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gasfields in the North Sea. Because when you think "fresh start," you think "more drilling."
Marra, the MSP for North East Scotland, won a near two-thirds majority to lead the party in Holyrood on Saturday, becoming Scottish Labour's 11th leader. He replaces Anas Sarwar, who resigned in July to join Andy Burnham's new government as a trade minister - presumably because being a trade minister is easier than explaining Scottish Labour's electoral strategy.
The Dundee-born Marra said he would urge the British prime minister to back both fossil fuel projects despite warnings over their environmental impact. Neither project is covered by the ban on new licences for drilling in the North Sea because their applications were already in the system when the Labour government took power. There is growing expectation that ministers will approve the Jackdaw gasfield in the coming weeks, because nothing says "climate leadership" like greenlighting gas fields.
"I want Rosebank and Jackdaw to be approved," Marra told reporters shortly after his election. "It's the biggest issue in my region in terms of people's voting intention. We need to have a more rational policy position that delivers for the Scottish economy and Scottish jobs." Ah yes, "rational" - the word politicians use when they mean "whatever gets us votes."
In his acceptance speech at the Dynamic Earth science museum in Edinburgh - a venue that presumably did not endorse his energy policy - Marra said he would spend time reconnecting with Scottish voters after a bruising defeat in this year's elections.
"May hurt so much because we know the SNP didn't deserve a fifth term in power. But the truth is Scotland didn't think we would be much better," he said. A rare moment of honesty in politics.
"Scots know what we are against. They can't tell you what we are for. And that vacuum was filled by the poison, racism and bigotry of Reform. We must be clear in our values. We must lead with our values," he said. Because nothing fills a values vacuum like backing oilfields.
"For a decade now, Scotland has gotten weaker. We must reconnect with the country if we are ever to form a government in Holyrood to face these historic challenges."
Marra faces an uphill battle to reverse the party's fortunes in Scotland. While 37 Labour MPs from Scotland sit in Westminster, the party has lost seats at every Holyrood election since devolution in 1999. In May, the party suffered its worst ever results - winning just 17 seats as the SNP retained power. Labour has as many seats as Reform in Holyrood, just two more than the Scottish Green party and five more than the Conservatives. So, basically, they're winning at losing.
In a subdued campaign with few policy differences between candidates, both Marra and his main rival, Joe Fagan, were criticised for struggling to outline the circumstances in which Scotland should be allowed a second independence referendum. Marra said he thought the party had become overly focused on middle-class voters and vowed to build a broader electoral coalition centred on the needs of the country. When asked again about the level of public support that would mean Scotland should have a second independence referendum, Marra said the SNP's failure to get an outright majority in Holyrood in May signalled that it was not a priority for voters.
"The people of Scotland do not want a referendum right now. We will continue to make the case for a stronger Scotland in a changing UK. It's imperative to me that we are not in this for the status quo. I'm in this to make sure that we can see a stronger Scotland," he said. Stronger, presumably, in the fossil fuel sense.
In total, 6,751 votes were cast in the leadership election, representing 49.43% of the Scottish Labour party membership. Fagan won 2,485 votes, while Marra won 4,266. So, roughly half the party couldn't be bothered to vote - which is still a better turnout than Scottish Labour's electoral performance.
Dr Eric Shaw, a research fellow at the University of Stirling who co-authored The Strange Death of Labour in Scotland, said the party had to reconnect with working-class voters to win back support. "The party is facing three main issues: the continued salience of independence, the association between Scottish Labour and Labour in Westminster, and the erosion of Labour's historic base in Scotland. The plight of the party is reflected in the fact that Labour did better among the professional middle class than it did in the working class in the most recent election." Nothing says "working-class hero" like backing oilfields and hoping for the best.
Dr Ewan Gibbs, a lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Glasgow, said the new leader had to ask difficult questions about who the party was meant to represent in Scotland. "We are approaching 20 years of failure with the government in Holyrood if we look at the performance of public services, educational attainment, ongoing income and wealth inequality in Scotland. But Scottish Labour isn't a party that seems equipped to mobilise that opposition and disappointment at the moment." So, to sum up: new leader, same old problems, and a fresh endorsement of fossil fuels. Scotland, you're welcome.