Blair on nuclear power
Now ...
"Energy prices are rising the entire time which is why the whole issue to do with nuclear energy is back on the agenda - not just in this country but in many other countries around the world ... There are somewhere in the region of 50 to 60 nuclear power stations being built this year, including for the first time in a long time one actually in Europe itself ... I'm not saying only nuclear is the answer. Of course it's not. There are renewables, there's energy efficiency, there's everything else. But I still think that (nuclear) has got to be at least part of the debate and argument if we are to make sure that our energy needs are properly and cleanly met for the future ... "Tony Blair MP, June 14 2006, as Labour Prime Minister. Commons Hansard.
Essentially, the twin pressures of climate change and energy security are raising energy policy to the top of the agenda in the UK and around the world. The facts are stark. By 2025, if current policy is unchanged there will be a dramatic gap on our targets to reduce CO2 emissions, we will become heavily dependent on gas and at the same time move from being 80% to 90% self-reliant in gas to 80% to 90% dependent on foreign imports, mostly from the Middle East, and Africa and Russia. These facts put the replacement of nuclear power stations, a big push on renewables and a step change on energy efficiency, engaging both business and consumers, back on the agenda with a vengeance. If we don't take these long-term decisions now we will be committing a serious dereliction of our duty to the future of this country."Tony Blair MP, May 16 2006, as Labour Prime Minister. Speech to the CBI.
And then ...
"The consumer will be under an obligation to buy a fixed amount of electricity from nuclear sources and, for the privilege of being shackled in that way, pay an additional special tax on his bill. This is not so much privatisation as a rather crude form of economic gerrymandering. The privatisation of the nuclear industry is the achilles heel of the Bill because only a Government whose mind was so gripped by doctrine that they had completely banished common sense could contemplate as hare-brained a scheme as the one that they are entering into now."Tony Blair MP, April 1989, as Labour Energy Spokesman.
"There will be a special levy or tax on consumers to pay for the new generation of nuclear power stations that private investors will not undertake."Tony Blair MP, 5 April 1989, as Labour Energy Spokesman. Commons Hansard.
"We are now hearing about the idea of a nuclear tax to pay for the additional costs of nuclear power - in particular, for the new generation of nuclear power stations. My honourable Friends will remember that that tax was at first denied by the Secretary of State. Then we were told that it had existed all along. Finally, in Committee, we received an admission from the Minister that, at present, it amounts to about £500 million a year, which is about 10 per cent. extra on consumers' bills. Even if all went well, it would be down to only 3.5 per cent. or 4 per cent. on consumers' bills by the end of the century."Tony Blair MP, April 1989, as Labour Energy Spokesman.
"What is unbelievably depressing about the [Conservative] government's response is that they see, in the evidence about greenhouse gases, not an opportunity to promote environmental concern but a chance to make the case for nuclear power ... "Tony Blair MP, 6 April 1989, as Labour Energy Spokesman. Commons Hansard.
"It will be the consumer who will pay, along with the taxpayer, as we shall see later."Tony Blair MP, 10 April 1989, as Labour Energy Spokesman. Commons Hansard.
"Am I not right in saying that, not only will the nuclear tax still remain to pay for the new stations, costing consumers billions of pounds, but the nuclear quota will remain, distorting the market and squeezing out competition?"Tony Blair MP, 24 July 1989, as Labour Energy Spokesman. Commons Hansard.
