Johnson green lights £30bn Sizewell C nuclear power station
Boris Johnson has given the green light to a new £30bn nuclear power station in Suffolk in the final weeks of his premiership.
Johnson and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi approved funding for the construction of two new reactors, known as Sizewell C, despite the Prime Minister vowing to not make decisions in this transitional period.
Zahawi’s deputy and Liz Truss ally Simon Clarke wrote to Johnson to complain that his decision will tie the hands of the next government, according to The Sunday Times.
Clarke said in the letter that the costs of Sizewell C are “sufficient to materially affect spending and fiscal choices for an incoming government, especially in the context of wider pressures on the public finances”.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today wrote in the Mail on Sunday that the UK must “crack on with more nuclear power stations” to bolster the country’s energy supplies, after giving consent for the development of Sizewell C in July.
Negotiations were ongoing over the government’s investment decision, however Johnson reportedly agreed to green light the project several weeks ago.
A spokesperson for the Stop Sizewell C campaign told The Guardian: “Whatever way you look at it, this is a very dodgy decision. Has it been made by a lame duck PM who is not supposed to tie the hands of his successor, or was it in fact made before Sizewell C was granted planning consent, lending serious weight to our conviction that this was a prejudiced, political decision?”