Andrew Bowie is coming under increasing pressure to oppose Jeremy Hunt’s £1.5bn raid on Scotland’s oil and gas industry.
The MP, who is defending a wafer-thin majority in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, has so far only said he is “disappointed” by Jeremy Hunt’s decision.
However, voting against it in the Commons would mean quitting his government job and losing his £22,000 ministerial salary uplift.
READ MORE: Jeremy Hunt admits Scottish oil and gas industry are budget 'losers'
Douglas Ross added to the pressure on Thursday.
Speaking to journalists in Holyrood, the Scottish Tory leader said Mr Hunt had made the “wrong choice.”
“I made that clear throughout the last week. I put that case across as robustly as I could, and I have been clear with every single one of you, that I still believe the Chancellor is wrong.
"And that's why I have made the firm commitment and the guarantee that I will oppose the Bill that will be required in Westminster to introduce that extension because I do not support it in any way.
"I reiterate that the Chancellor has got that wrong. I made that point to him personally, and I said, in no uncertain terms, I wouldn't go out and try and either shy away from making a comment on it or suddenly come round and support him.
"He has made the wrong choice here and I've made that very clear."
Mr Ross, who is both an MP and an MSP, repeated that the "best way" for him to stop the extension was "being in the House of Commons and opposing the legislation that the government will need to bring forward."
Asked what this would do for his party’s chances in the election, he said voters would look “at what the other parties are suggesting” and believe the Tories were still the most supportive of the industry.
READ MORE: Strained Douglas Ross loses the rag at FMQs after 'manchild' remark
Initially, Mr Bowie, who is defending a majority of just 843, tweeted that while there was “much in this budget to welcome” the extension of the Energy Profits Levy was “deeply disappointing.”
He said he would work with Mr Ross to resolve this.
Three hours, he said ”I've spoken to the Chancellor. He understands the importance of the EPL issue in the North East.
“The fact is only the Conservatives support our Oil and Gas sector. Thats why, for example, we are alone in retaining the capital gains allowances. So now we need get on and deliver.”
Earlier on Thursday, during an interview with the BBC’s Today programme, Mr Hunt was asked who the “losers” were in his budget.
He replied: "Who are the losers? I'm trying to answer your question directly. Foreigners who are resident in the UK who are able to pay a check and avoid paying tax at the same rate as everyone else, the so called non-doms.
"They are going to be paying significantly more tax.
"I've also asked the Scottish oil and gas industry to pay an additional contribution because the war in Ukraine is lasting longer.
"Oil and gas prices are going to stay higher for longer. I think it's fair they can make an additional contribution."
The SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said the Chancellor had "let the cat out the bag."
"The Chancellor has humiliated his Scottish Tory colleagues and destroyed any last remnants of credibility the Tories had in the North East of Scotland,” he said.
READ MORE: SNP minister demands meeting over Soukaina Habiballah debacle
Responding to the Chancellor's "loser" remark, Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “When the dust settles, Jeremy Hunt may find that the biggest budget loser is in fact the Treasury, because the investment that he could have attracted to the North Sea was far greater than the £1.5billion he has grabbed.
“The Chancellor had two choices yesterday – strangle more cash from a sector already paying tax at nearly four-times the rate of every other business in the UK, or create the fiscal conditions that would unlock £200billion of investment in our energy sector.
“This is the fourth time energy taxes have been tinkered with in 18-months – and for a sector which relies on stability to make long-term investments, that is unacceptable.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel