My Lords, I begin my comments by thanking my noble friend Lord McNicol for the substantial work he has already done on this important Bill, and by conveying his apologies to the Committee for being unable to attend because of his continuing isolation with Covid. I had just a passing knowledge of the Bill until yesterday, and my interest, as always, was fired by the attention given to the outcomes for Wales, which is my main shadow portfolio brief. Nevertheless, I shall do my best to substitute for my noble friend Lord McNicol’s wide and detailed knowledge of the subject, ably supported by our team of advisers, who have supplied me with excellent briefing notes on this significant Bill.
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I shall speak to Amendments 2, 9 and 19. Taken together, Amendments 2 and 9 prevent the Secretary of State designating a nuclear company owned or part-owned by the agents of a foreign power, and ensure that the fuelling of the designated company’s reactor is provided by a UK-based company. We welcome the related amendments from the noble Lord, Lord Vaux of Harrowden, and look forward to his remarks.
The topic of foreign ownership has taken on a new significance in light of ongoing events across the globe. Of course, those events are not directly related to the Bill, and the amendments were discussed in the Commons long before Putin’s plans became apparent. Be that as it may, ongoing events in Ukraine draw attention to the importance of national security, as well as more practical considerations such as reliability, when working with foreign powers or foreign-owned firms. It is highly unlikely that we would ever seek to include Russian interests in a future nuclear project in the UK, but there is a much higher probability of Chinese investment, for example, and it may be desirable for the final version of the Bill to include safeguards over these in the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
We appreciate that Amendment 9 takes a hard line. It would completely disallow any foreign involvement in UK projects, which would scupper the agreement with EDF, for example. However, the amendment provides us with an opportunity to discuss whether and where we should draw a line on foreign involvement in UK civil nuclear infrastructure. I think that all sides agree that there should be a line, so the Committee’s time is probably best spent exploring what kind of test or threshold there should be. We are not wedded to any particular approach at this stage, but the Minister will be aware that, in relation to money laundering and terrorist financing, the UK automatically mirrors the Financial Action Task Force’s list of high-risk countries. So is there potential to create a similar list for involvement in nuclear projects, with it being subject to periodic review? Any updates the Minister is able to provide today will be invaluable as we assess our options ahead of Report.
On Amendment 19, we are grateful to the GMB union for its input and ongoing work representing the nuclear workforce. Over the course of many years, the GMB worked to negotiate terms with EDF as part of the Hinkley Point C project, and this could provide a model for future projects. I am sure that the Minister will say that such matters will be subject to negotiation as part of each individual nuclear project, but that need not be the case. If the Government support the role of unions in this sector, why should relevant conditions not be imposed on potential providers?
Labour is concerned about foreign state control and these amendments would mandate nuclear stations to use UK-manufactured fuel and stick to UK consumer charges. This is about protecting people and it does not need me to remind the Minister and noble Lords of the current global crisis we face in Ukraine, and the overreliance on energy sources from hostile—indeed, war-mongering—states. At this unprecedented time in European history, surely we should be overcautious when beginning such projects.
In addition, Amendment 19 specifies a variety of conditions that the Secretary of State may wish to impose on a nuclear company as part of the designation process. These conditions reflect some of the terms agreed with the GMB union and EDF as part of the Hinkley C project, as I mentioned earlier. I commend the amendments to the Committee.