Promises of a green energy jobs boom in Scotland are proving to be so much hot air | Kevin McKenna

The government stands accused of failing to protect workers as it sold off projects to EDF and other foreign firms

In the renewables sector, the Scottish government has been perfecting a form of political alchemy over the last decade. In this, Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers have succeeded in spinning mere optimism into hard political currency.

The title of its manifesto for the 2011 Holyrood election asked voters to "Re-elect a Scottish Government Working For Scotland" and claimed that developing the low-carbon economy would create "around 130,000 jobs". At the current growth rate of real jobs in this sector, you wouldn't bet on that figure of 130,000 being reached before that big asteroid with Earth's name on it finds its bearings.