Lord Harrington of Watford
Main Page: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)
The deal that we made with the US is to ensure that we have a global industry in nuclear energy. We are setting up the foundations in this country to ensure that we have the manufacturing jobs, skills set, supply chain and secure investment into the future so that we can benefit from it over the coming years.
Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I declare my interest as chairman of Make UK, which has about 26,000 manufacturers as members, including most of those in the nuclear sector. In 2017, I was the nuclear Minister and made a big announcement that the Government were going to get involved in small nuclear reactors and were funding a competition to decide which company would do it. Now, nine years later, the Government have made another announcement that this is going to happen. Our members, naturally, are a bit cynical about when and how this is going to take place. Can the government side alleviate their fears and let them know when this is actually going to happen?
Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord for that question. It will take a Labour Government to ensure that it happens. We are nine years on from 2017 and we have made the commitment. We know what we are doing about this. We will ensure that we have a great future for our manufacturing sector and the people with the skills, and will promote the industry and the economic good for this country in the years to come.