Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 26 October 2004.
My hon. Friend is quite right. It is important that we have a wide range of electricity supplies. The Government and the Scottish Executive have very demanding targets for increasing the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources, and it is a pity that the Conservatives in Scotland have set their face against renewable energy. It is important to keep our options open on nuclear energy. Both major nuclear power stations in Scotland still have some life left in them—Torness will, I think, be operational until the early 2020s—and that is something that we need to look at. It is important that we have security of supply, not just in Scotland but throughout the United Kingdom. My hon. Friend is right that we need to press ahead with technologies such as cleaner coal and so on so that we can improve the environment as well as making sure that we have a good electricity supply.