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Nuclear Industry

I mean Mr. Cook. I never know whether I am supposed to say, ““Mr. Speaker?, ““Mr. Cook? or ““Mr. Chairman?. I always get it wrong, whichever I say. There is an analogy with the railroads in the 19th century, when both major parties were totally committed to the idea that the state should not interfere in the economy at all, but realised that because of co-ordination and externalities, which I mentioned earlier—although they would not have used those words in those days—it was necessary for the state to take some action. So they did so. That is why a series of private Bills went through the House, without which we would not have built the railway system. The Americans had to do the same sort of thing in America. On the continent, the state took an even more explicit role in railway building. I should like to emphasise, as my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Worcestershire did, the enormous urgency of the matter. I have been looking at the excellent report from my hon. Friend’s Committee, which makes it clear that there is still some uncertainty about how far the advanced gas-cooled reactor stations’ life can be extended. We still do not know about that. Originally, a lot of such stations—Hinkley and so on—were going to be taken out of commission in 2011-2012. We might get a few more years, possibly up to 10 more, but it is quite clear to me that from 2015 or so those AGRs will be retired. The Magnoxes, the total capacity of which does not add up to as much as 2 GW—they are not enormous—are being withdrawn at the present time. We have to act quickly if we are not to find ourselves in an absolutely appalling, disgraceful situation in which, although we proclaim our commitment to reducing carbon emissions in this country and our desire to have a reasonable balance and mix of dependence and a diversified set of risks in energy policy, we would allow the nuclear contribution to fall dramatically. That would be damaging and dangerous, on the grounds that I have just touched on, and it will happen within 10 years, unless we take action very quickly indeed. I hope that the Government will act even more rapidly than has been anticipated. I would like to see them introduce a Bill in the Queen’s Speech in October this year that will bring about the necessary changes in the planning system to ensure that we do not have another disaster like the eight-year-long planning inquiry for Sizewell B, when Sizewell C happens—which I trust it will—or when Sizewell C’s successors come along. That is unnecessary. I do not want to go into the mechanics and modalities that we might use to sort such matters out in future. Perhaps we should resort to private Bills. I remember, early on in my service in this place, sitting all night for a couple of nights on a private Bill on the Felixstowe dock and harbour scheme. [Interruption.] I think that my hon. Friend remembers that, too. We were both new in the House and, although it might be a traumatic memory, I do not think that I have ever spent 48 hours of my life more usefully. If we had not gone through two nights on that Bill the scheme would not have been built.