Clause 8 - Supplemental provisions of designating directions
Energy Bill [Lords]
4:00 pm
Mr Norman Baker (Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Lewes, Liberal Democrat)
That is exactly right. The Under-Secretary giveth and the Under-Secretary taketh away, but recently he has been doing more giving than taking away in the nuclear industry. An amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown dealt with segregated funds but it was not selected. I hope that we can return to that issue later because we want financial clarity; we do not want smudges and
blurred lines involving billions of pounds of public money, which is the situation that the Under-Secretary is creating through this Bill.
This is the ultimate blank-cheque clause. It tells a private sector operator, ''Don't worry about it. The Government are the body of last resort. If we get into trouble they will bail us out, as they have done in the past, and as they continue to do.'' The facilities that were made available to British Energy by the Department of Trade and Industry are still being made available. A huge amount has been made available in the past 12 months on that basis, and there is no guarantee in the clause that that situation will not arise again.
Indeed, clause 8 explicitly allows that to happen. Far from drawing a line under the use of public money to bail out the nuclear industry, which has happened so often, and starting with a clean sheet of paper, which I thought was going to happen under the Bill, we are perpetuating that practice. An opportunity is being provided for the private sector to have the Government contribute to its costs.
The hon. Member for Tewkesbury and his hon. Friends think that nuclear power has a future. If it does, I think that they are honest enough to say that it should wash its own face, and be clear on its financial contribution and accountability. That is not what the clause provides for. My amendments would prevent the taxpayer from effectively handing over more cash to British Energy.