The leader of the Labour group on Aberdeen City Council has said it will be the fault of a local business group if his party snubs the city for Great British Energy’s headquarters.

Tauqeer Malik said the “negativity” of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce would make it “extremely difficult” for his colleagues in government to have “confidence with businesses” in the city.

The councillor was speaking out as Sir Keir Starmer unveiled more details of the state-owned energy firm.

READ MORE: King's Speech: More details emerge on Great British Energy

In a speech in Runcorn, Cheshire, the Prime Minister said GB Energy was a core part of the “hard graft of rebuilding this country.”

He has long promised that the headquarters for the company will be in Scotland, though the exact location has yet to be confirmed.

It is not clear if it will be decided by a bidding process or if it will be in the gift of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband.

The £8.3bn of capitalisation for GB Energy will be paid for through changes to the Energy Profits Levy.

Earlier this year, Labour said they would make it a “proper windfall tax” and would scrap the current investment allowance which sees oil and gas producers get 91p in tax relief for every £1 they invest.

Writing in the Press and Journal at the time, Ryan Crighton, the policy director of the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, accused Labour of being “backstabbers".

He said: “Heading to Scotland to betray people in the pursuit of money and power has become very fashionable in 2024 thanks to the TV show The Traitors."

That comment prompted the paper to use the word 'Traitors' on the front page, with pictures of Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Ed Miliband and Anas Sarwar dressed as contestants from the Claudia Winkleman hosted BBC One programme.

Cllr Malik said: “My only concern for GB Energy not being located in Aberdeen is the negativity shown by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce who during the election called Labour amongst other things traitors.

“They even suggested Labour was happy to cast tens of thousands of hard working men and women on the scrapheap and place a world class Scottish industry on death row.

“Now they are advocating for GB Energy to come to Aberdeen.

“I said at the time that if Labour were to get elected to office, it would be extremely difficult for an incoming Labour government to have confidence with businesses in Aberdeen that were so hostile to them in opposition that they portrayed them as traitors.

"For my part, I will continue to lobby Labour at the highest level to ensure GB Energy is located in Aberdeen but if GB Energy does not come to Aberdeen then perhaps the real traitors to Aberdeen is not Labour, but Aberdeen Grampian Chamber of Commerce who undermined confidence in Aberdeen energy sector by their negativity towards what Labour was actually proposing in its manifesto."

READ MORE: SNP MSPs divided over location of Labour's GB Energy HQ

In response, the chamber pointed out that the councillor himself had previously criticised his party’s energy policy.

Cllir Malik was behind a motion for last year’s Labour conference saying it would be “economically illiterate to import oil and gas from overseas when we have oil and gas on our doorstep.”

A spokesman for Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce said: “The Chamber, industry, investors, and unions are all aligned in their concerns about the impact that Labour’s policies will have on the North Sea oil and gas sector.

“Indeed, there is so much alignment on this issue, that even Councillor Malik described Labour’s plans as ‘economically illiterate’ prior to the election campaign.

“The pace at which the new government is taking forward its plans for Great British Energy is both necessary and encouraging – and we agree with Councillor Malik that it should be headquartered in Aberdeen, where it can be co-created with industry.”

Meanwhile, in his speech yesterday, Sir Keir said GB Energy would eventually drive down household bills by £300.

Despite the promise being a key pledge during the election campaign it was missing from the official announcement of the new plans, and Downing Street repeatedly declined to use it when asked by journalists on Thursday morning whether it is committed to the number.

Asked during a question-and-answer session if he stands by the pledge, the Prime Minister said: “Yes, I do – I stand by everything in my manifesto, and one of the things I made clear in the election campaign is because I wouldn’t make a single promise or commitment that I didn’t think we could deliver in government and that’s why we carefully costed and funded everything in our manifesto.

“That does depend on early firm decisions being made, which is why we’ve set up GB Energy, why we’ve announced the partnership today with the Crown Estate, and why the Energy Secretary has already taken action in week one in relation to onshore wind, in relation to solar energy and also pushing on with nuclear. So I stand by that commitment.

“What this brings us is lower bills, energy security, the next generation of jobs, and of course an important contribution to our obligations in relation to the planet.”

He added: “It will take time for this to develop, it will take time before we’re able to get the benefits of clean power, but that’s why we’re moving at pace.”

READ MORE: Starmer: 'Powerful case' for GB Energy to have HQ in Aberdeen

SNP net-zero spokesman Dave Doogan MP said: “The fact there has been such chaos and confusion in the Labour Government over this issue is a worrying sign that there is no clear plan to lower household bills – and the pledge Labour made at the election is in danger of being broken.

“People in Scotland were promised change at Westminster – and they now expect the Labour government to get on and deliver it. Keir Starmer must set out exactly how much families can expect to see their bills lowered this year – and over the next four years,"

Meanwhile, former Siemens UK boss Juergen Maier has been appointed chairman of GB Energy.