Miliband in jobs pledge after oil refinery sale

The government will work to "maximise" the number of jobs saved when Lindsey Oil Refinery is taken over by a neighbouring business, the energy secretary has said.

Phillips 66 agreed to buy the site on Monday, seven months on from the collapse of previous owner Prax Group, but said it would not restart refining operations.

Ed Miliband defended the successful bid as the "best and most viable", amid claims from Reform UK and the Conservatives that production could have been continued under rival offers.

The sale of the site is expected to be completed in the first half of the year, but Phillips 66, which runs the Humber Refinery next door, has yet to set out how many of the 250 staff at Lindsey will be retained.

The official receiver, which took over the refinery in June, has guaranteed their jobs until the end of March.

Speaking in the Commons earlier, Martin Vickers, the Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham, said other bids had been submitted that would have continued production and there were "many unanswered questions" about the deal.

Miliband accused the previous owner of running the business "into the ground" with "tragic" results for the workers and their families.

He said the official receiver had concluded that there was not "a viable bid to keep refining going".

"That's why P66 was chosen, and we are determined to work with them to maximise the number of jobs that it can deliver for the local community," he added.

Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, claimed the government rejected a higher bid that would have "kept jobs" in favour of "mothballing the refinery".

But Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said this was "quite wrong" and the highest viable bid had been accepted.

On Monday, the Unite union said Phillips 66 should not be allowed to turn the site into a "glorified storage tank", adding it would be "demanding consultations" with the supplier.

About a third of the workforce, 124 people, were made redundant at the end of October.

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