ANGUS Robertson has said he will “fight tooth and nail” to bring jobs back to the struggling oil and gas sector as he accused the Tories of having “twiddled their thumbs”.

The SNP’s deputy leader hit out at the Conservatives’ record in government, saying they would rather “oversee the managed decline” of the North Sea than work to ensure the sector can “thrive over the long-term”.

He was speaking as he unveiled four priorities aimed at boosting the sector, which employed 450,000 people in the UK at its peak in 2014, but now employs around 330,000 following the collapse in oil prices.

The SNP is demanding the next UK government prioritises support for exploration in the North Sea, saying this will help ensure a “bright future” for the sector. It wants loan guarantees to be made available, and for the industry to be a priority in the UK’s Brexit negotiations.

In addition, the party wants new incentive schemes to be brought in to encourage oil and gas firms to diversify into renewable energy, claiming this will allow existing skills and expertise to be used in a way that will protect jobs for the future.

“Scotland’s oil and gas sector is emerging from the downturn, businesses are growing in confidence and people are getting back into work after a tough couple of years,” Robertson said.

“Throughout that time, the SNP has sought to support those out of work to retrain in other sectors and we’ve invested in innovation.

“Meanwhile the Tories have twiddled their thumbs and made clear they would rather oversee the managed decline of the oil and gas sector than see it thrive over the long-term.”

Speaking on a visit to ROVOP in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, a company which specialises in providing remotely operated underwater vehicles used by the sector, he added: “The SNP believes in the long-term success of our energy industry and it’s essential that we maximise its potential.”

Elsewhere on the campaign trail Scottish Labour claimed it is “within touching distance” of the SNP in seven seats at the General Election after it analysed the council poll results. Official figures from Elections Scotland show Labour secured 33 per cent of the first preference votes in East Lothian, while the SNP had 28 per cent. Labour also had a higher percentage of first preference votes than the SNP in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, up 2 percentage points, and was 0.91 percentage points higher in Lanark and Hamilton East. In four constituencies – Midlothian, Airdrie and Shotts, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, and Glasgow South West – Labour was within one percentage point of the SNP in the top-ranked candidate votes.

The party’s campaign manager James Kelly said: “This analysis shows that Labour is ahead of the SNP or within touching distance of the SNP in seven seats across Scotland.”

The Tories, meanwhile, repeated an attack on the SNP which Murdo Fraser was condemned for at First Minister’s Questions last week, when Ruth Davidson used a visit to an Edinburgh shortbread factory to claim Scotland is attracting fewer migrants than other parts of the UK due to “higher taxes and falling school standards”.

“[When] we’ve got a third of the landmass and 8.4 per cent of the UK’s population, why do only 4 per cent of people who choose to move and settle in the UK want to come to Scotland?” she said.

“I think that’s because we’ve got the highest taxation, we’re losing our reputation for being the best school area in the country.” Nicola Sturgeon last week hit back at similar comments made by Fraser and said the Scottish Government wants a separate immigration policy to attract more people.