Paul Flynn
Main Page: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Mr Davey
I have already paid tribute to my hon. Friend, and what he has just said shows why that tribute was appropriate. Much of his work and that of local councils, my Department and others has been aimed at maximising the economic benefit for the area, and indeed the whole country. He will be aware of the nuclear skills academy, which is based at Bridgwater college, and that Sedgemoor and other councils have attracted new investment to the area for additional construction, as well as support for schools in the area. He will also know that even before we unveil the community benefits project, the decision provides significant benefits to the local area.
My hon. Friend is right in saying that there will be some pain for some local people in the local community during the long construction phase, but I hope that they and he believe that the panel’s recommendations and my decisions will mitigate that as much as possible.
Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)
Does the Minister agree with himself, as the Lib Dem spokesman, that nuclear power is possible only with a vast—that was his word—taxpayers’ subsidy or a rigged market? Does he also agree with himself, as a supporter of the coalition agreement, which said that there would be no subsidy for nuclear power? Can he now deny the claims that the strike price, which was originally £50 per megawatt-hour, is being negotiated at £97, and that we will be giving to a near-bankrupt French company a short-term subsidy of £30 billion that could turn out to be £150 billion in 35 years?
Mr Davey
The hon. Gentleman is right to say that my concerns on nuclear power for some time have related to the price, because the history of nuclear power in this country and elsewhere is that it has turned out to be expensive. That is why this coalition Government —and, indeed, the previous Labour Government—have gone about the third generation of nuclear power stations very differently from how Government’s went about things in the past to ensure that the consumer, business and the taxpayer are protected. That is why the coalition agreement says that there will be no public subsidy. I have to say to him that I simply do not recognise the figures he quoted.