Cameron backs Hinkley plant

The PM has backed the decision to give EDF the go ahead for new nuclear power plants at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Mr Cameron was taking Prime Minister’s Questions ahead […]

The PM has backed the decision to give EDF the go ahead for new nuclear power plants at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

Mr Cameron was taking Prime Minister’s Questions ahead of the Budget when he was asked by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas if the cost of building and maintaining the new nuclear plants and the negotiations over a strike price, which she claimed would cost £40bn, was wasted money that could be better spent on the fuel poor.

The Tory leader, who once raced Huskies to show off his pro-green credentials, responded: “I disagree with the Honourable Lady. Our fleet of nuclear power plants are coming to the end of their life and it makes sense to replace some of that capacity.

“That is what Hinkley is about, that is why I think my Right Honourable Friend (Ed Davey) was right to give it the go ahead and I think it’s going to be an important provider of carbon-free electricity in the years ahead.”

Yesterday DECC announced EDF would get planning permission to start building a pair of  nuclear power plants scheduled to open in the next decade.

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