Given Labour’s lead in the UK polls, Keir Starmer’s vow to make Britain a “clean energy superpower” – in contrast to Rishi Sunak's plans to “max out” oil and gas – sends an important message about the country’s likely direction of travel.

On a visit to Aberdeen, the Labour leader held talks with energy companies and later expressed confidence that the industry was on board with the transition to net-zero carbon emissions. “Nobody in the sector is saying to me, ‘We don't want the transition’. What they are saying is, 'We want the transition but here are the challenges, the pinch points, opportunities of the next generation of jobs, are you coming alongside us?' The answer for me, if we form the next government, is yes,” he said.

Climate change: Keir Starmer's message to oil and gas industry about net-zero transition is the right one – Scotsman comment