What progress has been made on the Franco-British nuclear forum; and if he will make a statement.

The first meeting of the forum was held in Paris in November last year, chaired by the Minister for Energy and the French Industry Minister. The working groups are focusing on specific areas for collaboration, and there will be a follow-up meeting on the issue in London in March.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on being the only party leader to support the industry. Given that there is huge international growth in the nuclear industry—perhaps best evidenced by the emergence of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership—how will the forthcoming energy white paper enable the UK nuclear industry to capitalise on the vast commercial opportunities that exist?

I hope that within the next few weeks the white paper will indicate how we can take forward the licensing regime for a new generation of nuclear power stations. As I said when I was in my hon. Friend's Constituency a short time ago, around the world today people are recognising that it will be very difficult for us to have energy security as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and CO2 emissions without replacing our existing nuclear power stations. If we do not take that action now—we have to make decisions now—we will face a situation over the next few years in which our dependence on gas imports rises, and we are unable to meet our CO2 emissions targets and make sure that we have proper energy security. For that reason, I was heartened to be told when I visited my hon. Friend's constituency that his constituents were very willing to participate in this new nuclear power programme.