“Go nuclear, go big”: Boris confirms £700m investment in Sizewell C as PM uses final major address to argue it would be “madness” not to move forward with nuclear power following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Boris Johnson today pushed his successor to “go nuclear, go big” as he pledged to invest £700 million in the projected Sizewell C power station in Suffolk.
In what is believed to have been his final major policy speech as Prime Minister, the outgoing prime minister expressed ‘total confidence’ that the bill will pass in the coming weeks.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin wreaks havoc on global oil and gas markets, Mr. Johnson cautioned that it would be “total folly” not to proceed with the nuclear project.
He also expressed confidence that his successor, whether it be Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, will renounce the “short-termism” that hindered the previous government’s approach to the energy security of the United Kingdom.
The Sizewell C project is proceeding despite strong local resistance.
The RSPB has issued a “catastrophic” warning for the biodiversity at the neighboring Minsmere nature reserve, where some of Britain’s rarest species have only avoided extinction by surviving in the reedbeds.
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats criticized Mr. Johnson’s ’empty rhetoric’ about energy investment initiatives.
They attributed the current cost-of-living crisis to the Tories’ ‘horrendous legacy’ regarding renewable energy during their 12-year rule.
Today, Boris Johnson likely delivered his last major policy speech as Prime Minister before he leaves Downing Street the next week.
On the Suffolk coast, the new nuclear power plant is proposed for the same location as the existing Sizewell C plant.
The prime minister warned it would be “total folly” to abandon the Sizewell C nuclear plant.
In a defense of his three years in office, Mr. Johnson stated, “This Government has not shied away from the tough decisions; we’ve raised our eyes and scanned the horizon.”
I am confident that whoever follows me the following week will do the same.
“No more national myopia, no more short-sightedness; let’s consider the future, let’s consider our children and grandkids, the next generation.
“I say to you with the prophetic candor and clarity of one poised to pass the torch of office: Go nuclear, go big, and go with Sizewell C”
Mr. Johnson resented the fact that other nuclear plants had not yet been completed, despite the fact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had exacerbated the situation of rising energy costs.
If the much-delayed Hinkley Point C, currently under construction in Somerset, had been “already operating” this year, it would have reduced fuel costs by £3 billion, according to him.
“That’s why we need to pull ourselves together and move forward with Sizewell C,” he added.
“Because of this, we are investing £700 million in the contract, a portion of the £1.7 billion of Government funds available for advancing a large-scale nuclear project to the final investment stage… in this Parliament.
And over the course of the next few weeks, I am completely convinced that it will pass, and we will pass it because it would be sheer madness not to.
The Sizewell C project is being pursued despite strong local resistance, with the RSPB expressing concern that it could be “catastrophic” for the local Minsmere nature reserve.
Only by surviving in the reedbeds of the RSPB’s Minsmere nature reserve have some of Britain’s rarest birds evaded extinction.
The prime minister cautioned that Liz Truss’s commitment to reverse his prohibition on fracking would not be a “magical solution” to the energy situation.
Mr. Johnson also appeared to take aim at Ms. Truss, who is generally likely to replace him as Prime Minister the following week, after the Foreign Secretary recently pledged to reverse his prohibition on fracking if she is elected.
He stated, “I remind everyone who believes hydrocarbons are the only solution and that fracking is the only solution that offshore wind is currently the cheapest kind of electricity in this country.
Offshore wind is nine times less expensive than gasoline.
Later, the prime minister emphasized that he was not “morally” opposed to fracking, but added that he was “somewhat skeptical that it would prove to be a panacea.”
He stated, “I’d much rather we concentrate on things where we excel and where environmental damage is low, such as offshore wind.”
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