MINISTERIAL CONFUSION AT OWN NUCLEAR PROPOSALS

 

SNP Westminster Energy Spokesperson, Mike Weir MP, has expressed surprise at the “bizarre statement” made by UK Business Secretary, John Hutton, during the Commons debate on the  Energy White Paper launched today (Thursday). Mr Weir pressed Mr Hutton on the costs associated with waste disposal and was informed by Mr Hutton that the proposals in the White Paper only applied to England.

 

Mr Weir said:

 

“This is a bizarre statement. The SNP Scottish Government will prevent the construction of new nuclear power stations in Scotland but the construction of the waste depository is a completely separate matter.

 

“The costs of constructing and running the waste depository will be met by the taxpayers of the whole of the UK, Scottish taxpayers will be shafted as much as English ones. Any payments received from nuclear generators will, at best, offset a little of the massive costs in construction and running of the depository.

 

“It would appear that the Secretary of State does not understand how his own scheme will work. If, however, the UK Government will give a binding guarantee that Scottish taxpayers will not bear any of the cost of this nonsense that would be welcomed by taxpayers although perhaps not by the chancellor.”  

 

Turning to comments made by Mr Hutton, in which he accused Scottish Government Ministers of a political stunt in opposing new nuclear power stations, Mr Weir said:

 

“John Hutton’s comments on Scottish Minister are ludicrous. The SNP has a long standing and deep opposition to new nuclear power stations, a stance made clear prior to last year’s very successful election. Not only that but, as I reminded him in the Chamber, the opposition to new nuclear stations is shared by many Labour MSPs. There is a clear majority in the Scottish Parliament against any new nuclear stations in our country.

 

“It is the UK Government that will come to regret this headlong rush into encouraging new nuclear power stations as the costs and delays mount up. They have provided no answers on how these are to be paid for or how the containment of waste for hundreds of thousands of years will be managed or financed.

 

“The UK Government seem intent on presenting this as a macho response to “hard decisions”. It is a financial black hole that will come back not only to haunt them, but also generations of taxpayers to come.”