Shale gas and nuclear power were the chosen favourites for Chancellor George Osborne in his speech at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham yesterday.
The Tory MP conjured up Britain’s engineering history to paint a picture of how the future will be fuelled – arguing in favour of fracking and nuclear.
Referencing a statue which stands in Birmingham of three British engineers who improved the steam engine, locally known as the ‘Golden Boys’, he declared: “Would they have said that the country that built the first civil nuclear power station should not build any more?
“No they would not.”
He continued: “Would they have said, yes we mined for coal deep underground and explored for oil beneath our seas but we should leave the extraordinary shale gas reserves untouched beneath our feet?
“No they would not.”
The Chancellor mentioned green energy once in a list of fuels: “We will tap the shale gas, commission nuclear power and renewables and guarantee our energy for the future.”
