Communities and Local Government/Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s point that we need to make decisions now, because there is a run-in of about a decade and a half, as he rightly points out. Obviously, many of our nuclear power stations will be leading up to decommissioning before 2021 comes into play. We need to invest in other non-renewables, but I am highly sceptical as to whether that will be sufficient considering our energy needs, which are not simply economic. There is also a rather important political issue at stake: it would be most unwise for this country to be overwhelmingly reliant for energy supplies on either oil and liquefied natural gas from an increasingly unstable middle east or gas from a Russian state that is fashioning a post-cold war place in the international community with what might be some uncertain political consequences. I support the programme of updating our nuclear power stations and building anew. The Government have dithered for far too long on this, as in so many other areas. The legacy that they will pass on to their successors is one of delay and administrative failure. I hope that, in this area, they will now have the courage to act, and act soon.