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Nuclear Industry

The hon. Gentleman, for whom I have great regard, may possibly be missing something. I think that his attention might have been momentarily distracted when I said that I did not believe that in this case it would be either desirable or necessary to go in for any subsidies to enable investment to take place in new nuclear generating capacity. What I did say was necessary was a clear regulatory framework that is not subject to subsequent change and a co-ordination role on the part of the Government. They should take responsibility for a general strategy to which they would be committed and within which the private sector would be able to make long-term investment decisions with less uncertainty and, therefore, with a lower capital cost, as my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Worcestershire rightly reminded the Chamber. There are good reasons why, in this case, the state should take a role—this is standard classic economic theory, and I have not said anything at all revolutionary. Should it not do so, there would be market failures and we would all suffer as a country. That is my point about abut externalities. Laissez-faire is not appropriate. People like myself, and even the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty) and most of the Labour party these days, believe in markets, capitalism and so forth, so we have common ground on this matter. I remind colleagues from both parties that there are good, sound, classic grounds in economic theory for accepting a greater role for the state in this case. It is similar, Mr. Speaker—