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UK Government's Energy Policy

The right hon. Gentleman has always been consistent in his support of the Severn barrage project. He will correct me if I am wrong, but the former First Minister likened it to the environmentally catastrophic Three Gorges dam in China, so he has a bit of work to do in his own party to convince it about the project. At the conclusion of the study, the Government saw that there was not a strategic case for public investment in the tidal scheme, which could cost up to £34 billion in the immediate term, but we recognised that the factors that determine feasibility of Severn tidal power could change, and the report contains potential triggers for a review. That is not expected before 2015, but it does not preclude a privately financed scheme coming forward in the meantime. We must make that clear. The right hon. Gentleman always refers to us as having cancelled the Severn barrage scheme, but that is not accurate.