General Discussion
Its just another joke and a step closer to fuel poverty for the UK.
The companies like EDF, E-ON, British Gas, ETC should be forced to re-invest their profits into new generation facilities afterall they are the ones that have used and made money out of the existing facilities and virtually run them into the ground.
Hopefully the Chinese contribution wont be made of plastic like alot of the fake goods they produce.
I had to smile listening to a goverment spokesman telling us all that building this power station will reduce bills. I remember Calder Hall being built and the people in Cumbria being told if we build it here it will produce free power for the people of Cumbria they are still telling the same lies will they never learn. As for the Chinese involment a serious mistake me thinks a foreign power especialy the Chinese should have nothing to do with UK nuclear power
Also remember North Sea oil and gas would mean cheap fuel for the UK, that also never happened. Apparently it was the wrong sort of oil and had to be exported. Companies like BP made millions if not billions in profit and still our own petrol and gas went up in price. All essential services should be under government control with a fixed price. Private companies especially those from outside the UK cannot be trusted to supply our energy
Did I miss the outrage from the right wing press about this deal? Imagine their reaction if it had been a Labour government that had done this or even if Ed Milliband had merely suggested such a deal should be made?
I am sure there are those who read this website who will attempt to explain the following to me. Why is it okay for us to have a totalitarian state buy into (control?) our nuclear energy production? Thought we were anti totalitarianism and state control? Hypocrisy or what?
A treasonable act even?
For a longer and more in depth analysis have a read of this http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/20/osborne-chinese-charm-offensive-ignorance
That doesn't read to me as The Mail being outraged. I read the Telegraph piece as well. Can't see any outrage there either. Can only assume that outrage must be in the eye of the beholder, or, as in this case, the reader.
@burneside - could you throw some light (what a pun!) on this question please.
" Why is it okay for us to have a totalitarian state buy into (control?) our nuclear energy production? Thought we were anti totalitarianism and state control?"
and here's another one
"How much of the money generated (pun again) in the building of, the running of, and the profits made from, these nuclear power plants will find its way back to China?". I only ask as there obviously must be something in all this investment for the Chinese otherwise they wouldn't be interested in the deal, would they?
This is an extract from Robert Peston's (BBC Business Editor) blog on the issue.
"The government is refusing to finance these hugely pricey projects directly - although it will allow the owners of any new nuclear generators to charge well above the current market price for any power they produce in years and decades to come, so that the billions in development and construction costs can be recouped."
You asked a question, I provided a link. If you can't see any outrage in the Mail article then you aren't reading it properly.
Nothing wrong with my reading Burnside. As I said, eye of the beholder and all that.
I gather the first nuclear power plant to be built under this scheme will be at Hinkley Point - just up the road as it were.
Joint project between the Chinese and EDF.
China owns quite a lot here, London taxis, they own part of Manchester airport, Royal Albert Dock, Crystal palace, they own Bright foods, fusion foods, 2 of the largest food producers in the UK. which includes such things like weetabix, readybrek 41% of british firms are owned or controlled by foreigners, The lottery camelot was bought and moved to a swiss tax haven so it doesn't pay uk tax. You can buy EDF energy for £500M anyone can buy it, so come on stop the chinese getting it, put your hand in your pocket.
Just another tactic of our illustrious government to side step their responsibilities to actually do their job and get this country back on its feet. I heard on the news a few days ago that this new build will initially create 1000's of jobs during its construction phase. I just wonder how many U.K. citizens will actually prosper from this? I expect it will be the same old story we had with the 2012 Olympics and where the workers came from for that little project. One thing you can count on is that a few very rich people will be getting even richer from this deal at the expense of the rest of us. Winge, winge, moan, moan.
With the expected influx of even more Eastern European's next January, its pretty obvious where the cheap labour will come from. They then send the money back to their families who use it to send even more over here and so it goes. We had exactly the same situation in the sixties with the Pakistanies and Indians
Problem is they never seem to go home afterwards
