Month: July 2025

Anyone who doubts that should take time to look and listen to the US President anytime he is in our county – or indeed anytime he speaks of it.

Trump is nothing if not a brash and colourful figure.No one should be surprised by that. He is a Manhattan real estate dealer, so that kind of approach to life pretty much comes with the territory.

That being so, wistful and emotional aren’t words you would normally associate with the current resident of the White House. But Scotland clearly holds a special place in his heart. It is the land of his mother’s birth. Mary Anne MacLeod was born in Lewis and emigrated to New York in the 1930s. And the man who now occupies the Oval Office makes frequent mention of those Hebridean roots.

It’s something that means he sees Scotland in a separate light to the many other countries he visits. “It’s different when your mother was born here,” as he put it. No other country can make that claim. That is why it makes sense for us to engage positively with Trump. Doing so is good politics, good manners and good business.

Trump’s affection for Scotland was on full display over the last few days during his mini-break on these shores. From Ayrshire to Aberdeenshire, he indulged his love of golf but also took the time to showcase his resorts and their scenic surroundings to visiting dignitaries. Which meant we were treated to the rather surreal sight of a UK Prime Minister being welcomed by a US President while on UK soil.

That role reversal simply exposed the power dynamic at play. Trump occupies the most powerful office on Earth and he knows it. For Keir Starmer and John Swinney it was an opportunity to press the case on a range of issues, including US tariffs on Scotch whisky. Hopefully, those conversations proved useful and will lead to a positive outcome.

Those who actually took the time to speak to local residents in Ayrshire, when Trump was staying at Turnberry, found people who were happy to voice their backing for the boost he has delivered to the local economy. Trump is due to return to the UK later this year on an official state visit – this week’s Scottish prelude suggests that can also be a success.

“We can’t let the lamp of freedom and hope flicker, or go out – who will be there to light it back up again”.

During President Trump’s visit to Scotland, Marie appeared on BBC Radio Scotland and The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 to share her thoughts on the visit. You can listen to the Radio Two interview below.

The Herald | Thursday 31st July 2025

A new age of industrialisation is dawning in Scotland. For too long, the communities once supported by the industries of generations gone by have waited for something to take their place. Communities like the Ayrshire one I grew up in have been crying out for a new age of sustainable employment to replace industries like mining, which my grandfather worked in.

It seems appropriate to talk of mining given the recently announced public inquiry into the so-called “Battle of Orgreave” in the era-defining miners’ strike of the mid-1980s.

But rather than looking at the alleged injustices of one high-profile incident, as the Orgreave Inquiry will do, it is surely just as important to explore the wider social and economic injustices inflicted by the decline of mining and other traditional industries.

The most recent State of the Coalfields report from Sheffield University, which explores the condition of former mining communities across the UK, concludes that in Scotland these areas “still display acute social and economic disadvantage”. It is something which Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee has also touched on in its inquiry into industrial transition across Scotland.

All of which underlines the necessity of sustainable reindustrialization, the kind which rather than delivering here today-gone tomorrow employment, instead brings good jobs, skilled work and properly rewarding pay.

These things should not be too much to expect. But for those who have fallen through the cracks in society in the years since the decline of older heavy industry, it has often felt that way.

Now, with Scotland and the rest of the UK well placed to drive forward the industries of the future, a new era of opportunity is before us.

That is why I’m delighted that we are on the verge of securing no fewer than 1,200 jobs for Ayrshire, in a development that promises to lock in growth, opportunity and community wealth for the long term.

The UK-based undersea cable manufacturer XLCC is poised to deliver 900 manufacturing-related jobs at Hunterston, making the area a key hub for European and global development of technology which will help power the next generation of renewable energy projects at home and abroad. With global demand for high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cables rapidly outpacing supply, the company aims to build the world’s biggest and most advanced HVDC manufacturing facility here in Scotland.

It is hard to overstate the importance and significance of this project. For years we have been told that Scotland, with its huge green energy potential, is on the verge of a new industrial revolution which can provide the jobs and energy security we so badly need. Too often however, it has felt like we have been waiting and waiting for that long-heralded promise to become a reality.

That is why the XLCC project is so vital, and so exciting. In addition to the jobs at Hunterston, 300 additional jobs are expected to be created in Kilmarnock, with the multi-award winning HALO enterprise and low carbon innovation centre identified as the preferred location. I have developed HALO over many years in the 28-acre site of the former Johnnie Walker bottling plant in the town. These posts, including project delivery and sales teams, will drive and support the manufacturing facility at Hunterston.

The XLCC development has been in the pipeline since 2020, and like HALO will only be delivered through partnership between the private sector, unions, local authorities and both the Scottish and UK Governments, all working at pace to ensure this massive opportunity is secured.

There are two other points worth making in relation to this promised jobs windfall for Ayrshire. Firstly, I would urge both the Scottish and UK Governments to do more to speed up the pace of investment in regeneration and reinsudtrialisation, including the easing of planning laws to make such development easier.

Checks and balances, along with due process, are important when it comes to planning. But too often we are forced to wait too long to turn potential into reality. And delays are one reason we see valuable jobs going to other countries instead of being created here.

That links directly to the second point, which is just how important it is for the manufacturing bases for the industries that will power the rest of this century to be based in this country.

Scotland may have an abundance of natural resources when it comes to our energy potential. We are blessed with huge advantages when to green power, in addition to the oil and gas which is still an important part of our energy mix.

But that only counts for so much if the infrastructure and industrial gain required to exploit those resources is outsourced to other nations.

The arrival of XLCC in Scotland will be a powerful counter to the notion that we have to look elsewhere for energy manufacturing. And, as Scotland and Ayrshire prepare for the arrival of US President Donald Trump in the coming days, we could do worse than take a leaf from the playbook of America’s can-do attitude to business, enterprise and opportunity.

“We have the resources, and we have the skill – we just need the political will to ensure potential becomes reality.”

Marie pictured below with XLCC team members including their CEO, Ian Douglas, members of the management team and apprentices. 

PUBLISHED BY XLCC | Thursday 3rd July 2025

We are proud to share that XLCC is deepening its strategic relationship with HALO Kilmarnock Following the exclusivity agreement signed earlier this year, we have now signed a heads of terms agreement which identifies HALO’s award-winning Enterprise and Innovation Centre as the preferred location for our Sales and Project Delivery Headquarters.

This partnership could result in more than 300 high quality jobs being brought to the town alongside the 900 jobs expected to be delivered at our HVDC subsea cable factory in Hunterston and apprentice training academy in Irvine.

We are incredibly grateful for the strong support from Scottish stakeholders — including North and East Ayrshire Councils, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, and both Scottish and UK Parliament members.

Their belief in our mission to support the UK’s clean energy transition has been vital.

Commenting on the visit, Marie said: “Welcoming Ian back to announce his commitment to HALO and hear more about what’s next for XLCC is testament to his leadership over many months of negotiations. This accompanied by the hard work by both our teams highlights the incredible opportunities that lie ahead. This is a milestone moment in our ‘powering the nation’ partnership as we enter the next stage of this journey together, and I look forward to continuing to support Ian and his team as we take this bold leap into Scotland’s new era of sustainable energy — creating much-needed jobs, new skills, and lasting economic value with far-reaching benefits here in Scotland and across the UK.”

Ian Douglas, CEO at XLCC said: “XLCC is delighted to be teaming up with HALO in Kilmarnock, and we are incredibly grateful to Marie and the HALO team for their continued partnership, vision, and collaboration as we shape this exciting future together. This move, alongside the support we have received from key stakeholders across Scotland, will strengthen XLCC’s roots in Ayrshire and deepen our commitment to bringing high quality jobs, investment and long-term opportunity to the region.”

#XLCC #Scotland #Ayrshire #CleanEnergy #PoweringtheNation #NetZero #ScottishEnterprise #HALO #JobCreation #GreenInvestment #TheSupportOfScotland #EnergyTransition

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