§ 20. Mr. SkinnerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total cost to public funds, including the costs of the public inquiry, for the construction of Sizewell B. [26824]
§ Mr. PageSizewell B has cost about £2.5 billion to construct. The costs of the public inquiry completed in 1985 and attributed to the then Department of Energy, or recoverable from the Central Electricity Generating Board, totalled some £2.5 million.
§ Mr. SkinnerThat is a lot of money to pay out for the production of nuclear power. The Minister says nothing about the £1.3 billion given annually to the nuclear power industry as a straight subsidy. Will he confirm that, with the construction of Sizewell C at a cost of a further £4 billion, the price of electricity will be 3.7p per kWh, which is far in excess of anything that could be produced by coal-powered stations using British coal? Does it not make a nonsense and scandal of the fact that while British miners have been sacked and thrown on the dole—31,000 of them recently—by the President of the Board of Trade, the Government with their crazy economics will subsidise nuclear power to the hilt?
§ Mr. PageThe hon. Gentleman might imagine himself as some latter-day knight defending the coal industry that was—
§ Mr. SkinnerA trusty shield.
§ Mr. Page—but the Government are not prepared to pour money down the throat of the coal industry to produce not cheap but expensive electricity to the detriment of UK Ltd. My right hon. Friend's statement and the debate in the House on the privatisation of the nuclear industry made it perfectly clear what we would do. The privatisation of the nuclear industry is nothing new. We have had a privatisation policy since 1970 and it has produced significant benefits for the British people. It might be interesting for the House to note that before those state industries were privatised, they cost £50 million a week, which came from the taxpayer's pocket. They now contribute £50 million a week to the Treasury.