It doesn't look much, but it could be another small nail in the coffin of British nuclear power ambitions.
SSE is by no means a big player, but it was part of the NuGen consortium, linked with France's GDF Suez and Spain's Iberdrola – two seriously big players. They are now buying SSE's 25 percent share in the consortium, leaving both companies with an equal share of 50 percent.
Apart from leaving another chunk of British infrastructure in foreign hands – if it ever happens - this is seen as a blow to the British government which wants to see a series of new nuclear plants in operation by 2025. "It sends a big signal to the government saying: 'Look you've got to give us more security'," said Karen Dawson, director in the energy sector at consultancy PwC.
However, despite SSE's withdrawal, the NuGen group plans to continue with its project to build 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity at Sellafield. Its first new nuclear power plant is expected to start around 2023 and a final investment decision is planned for 2015/16.
"We are ... highly confident about our prospects in respect of our development plans in West Cumbria and there is no reason why this decision by SSE should impact upon our plans or timetable," Iberdrola and GDF Suez said in a joint statement.
So everything is alright then ... except they forgot the world-wide credulity crunch. Writes David Malone:
Does anyone anywhere believe anything they are told, on any subject, by any government official, financial expert or banker? Beneath all the outright lies, hopeless spin and half truths there is a more fundamental and corrosive problem. WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU!Apart from that, everything is normal, everything under is control ... nothing can go wring ...
COMMENT THREAD
In April 2010, they were saying Greek default was not going to happen. It took just over the year for Greece to lie on its economic deathbed, the death rattle in its throat. And now, the "colleagues" agree that default is inevitable.
Yet they are going to ring fence the collapse and prevent the spread of contagion. And the reason we should believe them is?
Meanwhile, the very hot frog is very kind, noting that it isn't me this time who is joking about rising up and killing them all. It's the Greeks – and a lady to boot.
And I do like what the Greeks are saying … "We can't watch the television news any more," says Dmitris, shaking his head. "...Perhaps it's fortunate that we've had to cancel our cable TV subscription. I don't trust the media any more: I get all my news from the internet". Oddly, this is printed in The Sunday Telegraph. The paper doesn't realise that many of us feel exactly the same way.
And, with that, the money quote comes here:
We have that here. If I was a British politician, at any level, I would be very, very afraid.
COMMENT THREAD
Yet they are going to ring fence the collapse and prevent the spread of contagion. And the reason we should believe them is?
Meanwhile, the very hot frog is very kind, noting that it isn't me this time who is joking about rising up and killing them all. It's the Greeks – and a lady to boot.
And I do like what the Greeks are saying … "We can't watch the television news any more," says Dmitris, shaking his head. "...Perhaps it's fortunate that we've had to cancel our cable TV subscription. I don't trust the media any more: I get all my news from the internet". Oddly, this is printed in The Sunday Telegraph. The paper doesn't realise that many of us feel exactly the same way.
And, with that, the money quote comes here:
Antonis Papayiannidis, who publishes Economic Monthly, warns: "In an almost detached way people have just watched the catastrophe happening to them. They were very displeased but they did not erupt. They became withdrawn and they are still withdrawn. But it could erupt very quickly, because the feeling of helplessness is very intense right now - in a way that makes the petrol bombs and barricades of June look pathetic".Please, please do not think this man is just talking about Greece. The way we are being stuffed by our rulers, we will not be far behind. Greek politicians have started to worry about something called "anomie" – a pervasive listlessness, low-level social conflict and the erosion of bonds between the country's citizens and the state.
We have that here. If I was a British politician, at any level, I would be very, very afraid.
COMMENT THREAD
No doubt, The Sunday Telegraph will claim to support the principles of freedom of speech and expression. But not, it seems, when it comes to Booker describing the actions of his colleague and Bradford MDC. If you look at the story as originally prepared for the press, and the copy as it went to the website, which is also how it was printed. You will find some curious omissions. No mention of North, and none of Bradford.
Once again, one has to observe, buying a newspaper is now simply an expensive way of being misinformed. And if they are leaving out details such as this, what else are they leaving out?
The issue here, however, is especially interesting. Google "bailiffs" in the news section and you may be surprised how few stories there are about bailiff malpractice - and none about their criminality. It is not only the police who are turning a blind eye, but the MSM as well. Our local paper has run a mile from the story, and other papers have ditched other aspects of it.
A while ago, this would have been serious - but no longer, now we have the blogs. And yes, I know that our coverage does not begin to match the MSM - but neither did the samizdat leaflets in Soviet Russia. Collectively, though, we do reach the people who matter. The MSM is cutting its own throat.
Posts
