TOP TORY Brian Monteith was accused of talking “nonsense” today after he wrongly claimed unions were divided over the North Sea’s controversial Super Puma helicopters.

The former MSP accused Unite of “double standards” for opposing the use of the aircraft, which has been involved in accidents claiming 33 lives since 2009.

The Super Pumas were previously used extensively to ferry oil workers to and from North Sea platforms.

Mr Monteith said that, if helicopters were being ruled out on the “precautionary principle,” the other main type of helicopter used in the North Sea, the Sikorsky S92, should also be ditched.

This model was involved in a loss of control incident in December 2016, though there were no casualties.

In an article for trade journal Energy Voice, Mr Montieth said that, if the S92 were grounded as well, the oil industry would be left with a “costly and unsafe logistical nightmare.”

The Tory accused Unite of waging a “belligerent campaign” in opposing the use of Super Pumas, saying that their manufacturer Airbus had made “vital improvements” and regulators had re-approved them to fly.

He said Unite had been “as extreme as it is isolated,” with “other Norwegian and British unions, such as RMT, accepting the civil aviation authorities should determine airworthiness and safety and not a union official.”

But RMT offshore organiser Jake Molloy said this was “nonsense” and that unions were united in their opposition to Super Pumas.

“We’ve made our position abundantly clear on numerous occasions,” Mr Molloy told the Star. “There’s a level of no confidence whatsoever in that aircraft model among the offshore workforce.

“I think Mr Monteith has interpreted what’s been said as the position of trade union officials rather than the position of the people we represent, people who have to climb into these things to and from their work.

“If the means Mr Monteith uses to travel to work had crashed into the sea on six separate occasions, then his position might be different.”

Responding to Mr Monteith in an article in the same trade journal, Unite regional officer Tommy Campbell said the Tory should “hold his head in shame.”

He asked: “Has he forgotten how many lives have been lost after stepping aboard a Super Puma in the North Sea?”

Mr Molloy said he was at a loss as to why Mr Monteith had intervened on the issue, stressing that unions had been lobbying Scottish Transport Secretary Humza Yousaf to press the Westminster government to hold a public inquiry into helicopter deaths.

“I can only assume he’s trying to protect his transport minister colleague from [the pressure] unless he’s looking for a job offshore,” Mr Molloy added.