Business
Developing Rosebank oil field ‘pure climate vandalism’, Scottish Green insists
Scottish Greens will “call out the lies of big polluters”, co-leader Gillian Mackay said as she branded plans to develop the Rosebank oil field as “pure climate vandalism”.
Ms Mackay spoke out as demonstrators opposed to drilling the site gathered in London on Saturday.
Plans to develop the North Sea field – which is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil – have been submitted again by owners Equinor.
However, Ms Mackay told the Scottish Green Party conference in Edinburgh: “We have to be the party that calls out the lies of big polluters.”
Ms Mackay, who was elected co-leader with fellow MSP Ross Greer in August, told her fellow Scottish Greens: “Drilling for new oil and gas in fields like Rosebank will do nothing to lower energy bills or protect our planet.
“It is pure climate vandalism and we have to stop Rosebank.”
Development of the oil field, which lies 80 miles west of Shetland, had been approved by the Conservative government in 2023 but that decision was challenged in the courts in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling which said the emissions created from burning fossil fuels should be considered when granting permission for new drilling sites.
Her comments came as Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, insisted the UK is “one of the most nature depleted countries in the world”.
Addressing protesters in London, Mr Polanski said: “The very least this Government need to do is to stop making things worse.”
Ms Mackay also used her conference speech to hit out at the UK Government over the closure of Scotland’s only oil refinery in Grangemouth.
Hundreds of jobs were lost after owners Petroineos closed the refinery earlier this year, with Ms Mackay, who grew up in the area saying: “I’m sick of governments and corporations using tags like ‘just transition’ as a cheap slogan.
“What happened in Grangemouth is not a just transition.
“Our communities don’t need empty words, words don’t pay the bills, or put food on the table.
“They need real plans to provide real jobs and real opportunities.”
Ms Mackay insisted: “That site could have been saved. Labour promised to save it – they promised £200 million – and the message from the workers is clear: show us the money.”
She said that the Grangemouth plant “could have been nationalised”, adding: “We cannot leave the future of our communities in the hands of billionaires who are all too happy to abandon us when the money dries up.”
With the Scottish Greens having set the target of overtaking Labour in May’s Holyrood ballot, Ms Mackay said her party was “on the verge of a historic election” with the “chance to elect more green voices than ever before”.
She also told how the birth of her first child, Callan, in June meant she had “never felt more committed to building a greener Scotland”.
She joked that she was speaking at Saturday’s conference “in relatively one piece, without too much baby dribble on me” as she said the Green model, with two co-leaders at the helm, had allowed her to take on the challenge.
“In other parties there would have been a whole load of barriers to a new mum being elected to a leadership role,” Ms Mackay said.
“It is only because of our co-leadership model and the support of ordinary members, I have been afforded this opportunity.”
She continued: “The support I have had says something about our party and the values we stand for.
“When I think about the country I want us to be, it is one where we support each other, one where we lift each other up and one where we do things differently.”
MUMBAI: The Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) cancelled its Saturday board meeting, which was expected to consider the induction of chairman Noel Tata’s son, Neville Tata, as a trustee. In contrast, board meetings of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT) proceeded as scheduled.The cancellation suggests that Neville’s appointment may have been pushed back to give trustees more time for discussions – since appointing a trustee requires unanimous approval. No new date for the SRTT meeting has been notified. An email query to Tata Trusts on the cancellation of the board meeting received no response. Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), and Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT) have several trustees in common. Except for Jehangir HC Jehangir and Jimmy Tata, the other SRTT trustees — Noel, Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh and Darius Khambata — also serve on SDTT’s board and participated in its meeting on Saturday, people familiar with the matter said. Jimmy, Noel’s older half-brother, usually does not attend SRTT meetings.Saturday’s development comes amid unresolved issues from the last round of inductions in Nov 2025 when the inductions of Neville and former Titan MD Bhaskar Bhat were approved by SDTT but failed to secure approval at SRTT. SDTT, together with SRTT, controls India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group.At the Nov 11, 2025 SDTT meeting, Khambata proposed Neville’s appointment, while Noel proposed Bhat, as TOI reported in its Nov 12 edition. Neither name was on the formal board agenda. All trustees of SDTT approved the appointments (Srinivasan did not attend the meeting as his term had expired). Later, at SRTT’s meeting on the same day, both proposals were put off for consideration at a later date.Srinivasan, who participated in the SRTT meeting, reportedly expressed reservations, stating that these proposals were not on the agenda and that such matters should not be raised under “any other items for discussion.” While items not listed on the agenda can be introduced with the chairman’s permission, Srinivasan suggested they be considered at the next board meeting, according to a person familiar with the discussion.This time, Neville’s appointment was formally listed on the SRTT agenda but the meeting was cancelled. Bhat’s name did not appear on Saturday’s agenda. Neville participated at the SDTT meeting on Saturday, marking his first formal role at the flagship foundation.
New figures from the Scottish Liberal Democrats show that small businesses have declined in Scotland since 2020.
The party’s economy spokesman, Jamie Greene MSP, has called on the SNP Government to urgently boost support for small businesses as he revealed significant drops in the number of small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Scotland.
Mr Greene asked the Scottish Government to provide the number of SMEs in every Scottish parliamentary constituency in each year since 2015.
The data showed that since 2020, the number of SMEs in Scotland has fallen from 177,020 to 171,660 – a decline of 5,360.
Over the past decade, 24 parliamentary constituencies have seen a fall in the number of SMEs, with notable declines in more rural parts of the country, according to the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
This includes a 13.8% fall in SMEs in constituencies across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire since 2015, and an 8% fall in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have secured tens of millions in support for business in this year’s draft Scottish budget, including a new £2.5 million package backing young entrepreneurs and an initial £36 million for business rates relief.
Mr Greene said: “These figures show concerning drops in the number of small and medium-sized businesses across Scotland.
“I’ve spoken to lots of skilled and entrepreneurial people who feel there are too many barriers to starting their own business, from the SNP’s economic incompetence to the crushing burden of red tape.
“I am pleased that Scottish Liberal Democrats secured some support for businesses in the draft budget, but we think the Scottish Government can go further.
“That’s why, in the coming weeks, we will be squeezing the Scottish budget for every penny to deliver for businesses.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Entrepreneurs and start-up companies are the backbone of our economy and the Scottish Government has been working systematically to develop the pipeline of support required to help them develop, grow and prosper.
“The facts show that we are making clear progress in establishing the right conditions to help business founders succeed.
“There was a 17.9% increase in Scottish start-up businesses in the first half of 2025, while investment deals in Scotland grew by 24% in the first half of 2025 compared to the second half of 2024.
“The Scottish Budget 2026-27 continues to support business, investment and a skilled workforce to accelerate economic growth, including record funding for our entrepreneurs and start-ups as we act to harness Scotland’s strengths and opportunities to drive long-term prosperity.”
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.
Blue aliens, a family of superheroes and a city of talking animals boosted the Walt Disney Company to the top of the domestic box office in 2025.
Full-year ticket sales in the United States and Canada rose about 4% from 2024 to $9.05 billion. Disney accounted for the highest share of that haul with $2.49 billion in ticket sales, or 27.5%, according to data from Comscore.
It’s closest competitors were Warner Bros. Discovery, which tallied $1.9 billion domestically, or 21%, and Universal, which took in $1.7 billion, or 19.7%. Together, these three studios accounted for nearly 70% of the domestic box office market share.
No other studio surpassed $1 billion in domestic ticket sales or accounted for more than 7% of the total box office haul.
“[Warner Bros., Disney and Universal] have the advantage of having at least two or more distinct and successful sub-brands labels — such as Marvel under Disney, New Line under WB and Illumination under Universal — under their corporate umbrella that enables these studios to dominate at least in terms of the overall box office and percentage of the marketplace that they control,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore.
Disney’s standout performance came on the backs of already popular intellectual property. Four of its films were part of the top 10 highest-grossing domestic releases of the year, including the live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch,” a sequel to 2016’s “Zootopia,” another entrant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and a third “Avatar” film.
“Most years at the box office are dominated by known IP and non-original content; films that have the baked in brand name recognition that theoretically gives those films a leg up in terms of marketing and potential box office success,” Dergarabedian said.
In fact, nine of the 10 biggest movies at the domestic box offices were from existing IP. Warner Bros.’ “Sinners” was the only original title to make the list.
“In 2025 there were some big budget originals that did incredibly well … but lest anyone think that trend is going away, 2026 looks to eclipse 2025 in terms of the number of high-profile sequels and known IP on the slate for the year,” Dergarabedian said.
That’s especially true for Disney.
The studio is set to release its first Star Wars film in theaters since 2019 called “The Mandalorian and Grogu” after the popular characters of its “The Mandalorian” series on Disney+; “Toy Story 5” is will hit theaters in June followed by a live-action “Moana” in July; then the hotly anticipated “Avengers: Doomsday” arrives in December.
A new Spider-Man film will also sling into theaters in 2026, but as part of a deal with Sony to have the character as part of Disney’s MCU, Sony keeps the majority of box office profits while Disney gets merchandise sales.
The box office will also get a boost from Warner Bros.’ “Supergirl” and “Dune: Part Three,” Universal’s “Minions 3,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “The Odyssey,” Lionsgate’s “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” and Sony’s third “Jumanji” film.
“As we look into 2026, there’s plenty of optimism to go around,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory “The slate is packed with top-tier franchises, some fan-driven and others family-oriented, alongside filmmaker-driven tentpoles … plus an inevitable crop of strong or potentially surprising performers out of horror, comedy, indie, and other genres.”
Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of CNBC and Fandango.
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