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Energy: National Policy Statements

My Lords, I welcome much that is in the Statement; I agree entirely with my noble friend on the Front Bench that it is probably 10 years too late. However, I find it quite astonishing that the Secretary of State has said, and indeed the Minister has repeated it today: ""That is why we were right last year to end the moratorium on new nuclear in this country"." They had been pressed year after year by people from all walks of life, not just the trades unions, though they were very active as the noble Lord, Lord Lea of Crondall, has said, but by Members of both Houses, that they were taking a very serious risk in turning their backs on nuclear. The phrase used then was "keeping the nuclear option open". That they can now seek to take credit for deciding to move forward with nuclear actually passes understanding, and I would have thought that there might have been some greater sense of shame that so much time on this has been wasted. I have a couple of questions for the noble Lord. He referred in the Statement to the announcement that: ""Today we are opening consultation on the proposed regulatory justification for two different reactor designs"." I had been given to understand that in fact there was going to be a justification statement made today, alongside the six documents which the Government have published. As I understand the matter, the justification is required under the 1996 Euratom BSS Directive 96/29, and is implemented in regulations made in this country, the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004. Is this document that the Government have referred to in their Statement that justification, or is it yet another preparatory stage before there can be justification? I am asking this question—and I am sure Ministers have been warned of this by their officials—because the legal challenge that they are likely to face from some of the diehard anti-nuclear brigade is going to centre on this justification document. I should be grateful if the Minister could say something about that. There is one other point, not related directly to energy. I have just one of the six documents here, which clearly states: ""Presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section 5(9)(b) of the Planning Act 2008"." Section 5(9) of the Planning Act says: ""The Secretary of State must—""(a) arrange for the publication of a national policy statement, and""(b) lay a national policy statement before Parliament"." Why do they put "House of Commons" in these documents? In fact, the Planning Act contains in Section 9 a provision indicating that this House will have as much say in the discussion of the applications and the advice to the IPC as the other place. What is the purpose of being deliberately provocative towards Members of this House by putting the words "House of Commons" in these documents? They are pandering to those in the other place who have always disliked this House. I find it very shaming that Ministers should yield to that sort of temptation.