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Good morning, cabinet secretary. You said earlier that we are part of a global economy and that people can invest in any jurisdiction. You also said that skills and talent are vital in order to attract investment. I think that we have skills and talent in abundance in our energy industry. There is a huge number of folk in oil and gas who have the skills and talent to help us to make good in the renewables revolution.

However, in this past week, on Monday, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce published its “Energy Transition 39th Survey”, and it said that confidence in the United Kingdom has plunged to a record low. I recognise that we are in a purdah period, so the Scottish Government cannot move forward with the green industrial strategy and the energy strategy, and that a huge amount of policy decision making in this area is reserved. How do we ensure that we rebuild that confidence so that the just transition moves jobs from oil and gas, as required, into renewables without losing the skills and talent? How do we persuade the UK Government to think logically and work with us to ensure that that happens?

It is.

You have talked about consents, cabinet secretary. Consenting—not just through devolved regulation or legislation, but through UK-wide legislation—has been a frustration for a number of players in the sector. How do we get better at consenting? How do we go about listening to people’s views on the barriers that they feel that there are, and how do we make the change—

On Friday, I had an energy day—although every day is probably an energy day for a north-east MSP—when I met a renewables company in the morning and folk from the oil and gas sector in the afternoon. You stated that 100,000 jobs are at risk if Labour sticks to its plans when it gets into Government.

How do we get better at that? How do we ensure that the UK Government listens and becomes better at that as well?

I get that, but I am trying to set context.

That 100,000 number is not one that politicians have come up with: independent experts said that 100,000 jobs would be at risk. One of the key things that was said to me on Friday is that politicians do not listen. How do we ensure that the Scottish Government and, I hope, their UK counterparts start to listen to the experts so that we can get the just transition absolutely right, retain skills and talent and attract the inward investment that we need in our jurisdiction?

I have a final question.

So, we can have all those other agreements on security and cyberattacks, for example, but that does not mean that the EU will be willing to look at trade again. That is what we are looking at today. I am interested in jobs, the economy and money in people’s pockets, all of which have gone to pot since Brexit.

I will throw back some of the words that you guys have used this morning. You said that the UK is out of sight and out of mind. In addition, one of you said that, when it came to certain things, the UK is not relevant. Will the UK continue to be out of sight and not relevant when it comes to renegotiating trade agreements?

To use the boxing analogy, the UK is on the canvas at the moment.

Mr Buckley, can I stop you there? We all recognise the security concerns, and we have other international agreements on security, including our NATO obligations. Some folk still think that the UK is a much greater military power than it actually is. Do you really think that that is a major way in, considering that many of the partners in the EU are in NATO, which is a separate organisation?

I will not take the opportunity to crack a joke about CBAMs.

All the things that you are talking about are peripheral things in what I would expect to be normal relationships where countries are trying to get co-operation. None of the things that you said should happen—I do not disagree with many of them—is likely to lead to a change in the trade and co-operation agreement in the near future. That concerns me, and it concerns many people, because it affects the general public through the economy, jobs and livelihoods.

Would you like to comment, Mr Hamilton?