Hinkley Point

Damian Collins Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

The hon. Lady has pushed her views for some time, and I have respect for them, but tackling climate change means that we need every form of low-carbon generation possible. The risk and the challenge are so great that it is wrong for people who are worried about climate change to turn their back on the issue. She points to other countries, but around the world many countries are looking again at new nuclear. She is right that the two new nuclear power stations that are being built are over budget and out of their original time schedule. That is why we are being extremely careful in our approach to those negotiations and to the new nuclear programme, learning the lessons of the past and from other countries so that we do not repeat those mistakes.

[Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement, which gives a huge boost to the confidence of everybody involved in the UK civil nuclear industry. Is not the statement also a statement of hope for other communities, such as Dungeness in my constituency, which aspire to be part of the revolution in the British nuclear industry?

[Mr Davey]

I agree with my hon. Friend. Many people—not only in the nuclear industry, but in the low-carbon energy sector generally—will see the statement as a key moment and welcome the boost to confidence more broadly. He has been a doughty champion for Dungeness. He and I have already met formally and talked about the work that he wishes to do locally, and I encourage him to keep going.