Clause 10 - Supplemental functions
Energy Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Mr Nigel Griffiths (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Edinburgh South, Labour)
This is not a probing amendment. It is a wrecking amendment that would severely restrict the NDA's ability to spend money on promoting research carried out by others that is related to its functions.
I am interested in the hon. Gentleman's view of the world. On the one hand, he picks on an evil group of people who are running every nuclear facility and believes that they should not receive a penny for that, despite the fact that we have to ensure that the products of the nuclear industry are clean and made safe. On the other, he sees a group of academics or researchers—perhaps again found at the jobcentre—who would help to carry out the research that the NDA requires. It is simply not like that, and the amendment reflects that caricature fairly accurately.