Alistair Darling
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Background
Entered parliament in 1987. He was the Opposition home affairs spokesman from 88-92. Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 1996-7 and Chief Secretary to the Treasury after Labour's election victory in 1997-8.
In 1998, he became Work and Pensions Secretary, a position he held until 2002. On Stephen Byers resignation, he became transport secretary which he held until becoming Trade and Industry Secretary in May 2006.
Acccording to a BBC profile, Darling “is regarded as one of Tony Blair's most trusted colleagues, despite keeping a foot firmly in the Gordon Brown camp”. [1] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/Alistair_Darling#endnote_bbc)
We Cannot Ignore Nuclear
Soon after becoming Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling gave a speech to the Fabian Society on Energy. He said that "nuclear cannot be ignored. It generates a substantial part of our electricity now – much of it baseload." [2] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/Alistair_Darling#endnote_dti)
We Can’t Turn Our Back on Nuclear
Soon after Darling confirmed that the Government will not turn its back on nuclear power. Darling told the Commons at question time: "Nuclear waste is one aspect that needs to be looked at. Nuclear has provided us with a baseload supply of electricity. It represents about 19% of electricity generation at the moment. If we don't do anything it will go down to between 6% and 7% in the next 20 years or so. It is something that does need to be considered and I don't believe we can simply turn our back on that." [3] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/Alistair_Darling#endnote_IEE)
If We Do the Lights Will Go Out
In an interview with The Guardian in June 2006, Darling gave the strongest hint yet of his support for nuclear. "We run a serious risk that some day someone will go into the living room, flick the switch and and nothing will happen because we do not have the capability to generate any energy from any source at all," said Darling, adding that nuclear had to be part of the mix to avoid hte lights going out. His comments would "delight" the nuclear industry, reported The Guardian[4] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/Alistair_Darling#endnote_guardian).
So Lets Go Nuclear
On July 11, 2006, Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, gave the green light to a new generation of nuclear power plants, saying that nuclear power would make a "significant contribution" to cutting carbon emissions and Britain's energy needs. [5] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/Alistair_Darling#endnote_go)
And Forget About the Past
Its remarkable how politicians can change their spots. Darling's insistence on keeping the nuclear option "on the table", whilst ruling out reliance on renewable sources as "populist and simplistic", is a far cry from his views when he was transport chair of Lothian regional council back in June 1986. Then, in the aftermath of Chernobyl, he funded the buses that carried hundreds of protesters from Edinburgh to the Torness reactor for a huge anti-nuke demonstration. [6] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/Alistair_Darling#endnote_diary)
External Links
- ^ BBC, Alistair Darling - Profile (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4977670.stm), May 5, 2006.
- ^ The Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP, To The Fabian Society (http://www.dti.gov.uk/pressroom/Speeches/page29828.html), June 5, 2006.
- ^ The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Darling Pressed on Nuclear Power (http://www.iee.org/oncomms/sector/power/SectionNews/Object/CCBE4371-073F-A08C-FD190622FFAC12D9), June 13, 2006.
- ^ Terry Macalister and Patrick Wintour, "Energy Review - The Lights Will Go Out If We Avoid the Nuclear Option, says Darling" (http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1807431,00.html), The Guardian, June 28, 2006
- ^ Matthew Tempest, "Nuclear Power to Make 'Significant Contribution', Says Darling" (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1817824,00.html), The Guardian, July 11, 2006.