Clause 7
Energy Bill
1:45 pm
Hugo Swire (East Devon, Conservative)
I thought for one moment that the hon. Member for Cheltenham was going to suggest that the decommissioning programme or plan could be funded by a windfall tax on the existing companies, but that money has been pledged by the Liberal Democrats to so many different areas that probably the pot is, as we speak, empty.
This is a good proposal from my hon. Friends the Members for Wealden and for Billericay. I do not see how it is draconian. Decommissioning is just as interesting as the commissioning of these activities and licensing, and it is something that exercises hon. Members on both sides of the House in this day and age. Indeed, there are those of us—myself included—whose reservations, particularly about the nuclear programme, concern the aftermath and what happens to the material once it has been processed and so on. There are those of us who care passionately about the environment and want to see plans in place—before any commissioning is undertaken—that would show how a redundant plan could be implemented at the given time.