Michael Fallon

This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch.

Michael Fallon (born 1952) is the Member of Parliament for Sevenoaks.

Fallon was appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in September 2010 and a Privy Counsellor in 2012.

Fallon became business minister in September 2012 at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and in March 2013 as Minister of State for Energy in the Department of Energy and Climate Change. He stepped down from this dual role in the Cabinet reshuffle of July 2014.

Fallon was appointed Defence Secretary in July 2014.

Nuclear activities

Regular nuclear meetings

After his appointment as energy minister Fallon spent much time getting acquainted with key nuclear players. In February and July 2013 he attended the high-level Nuclear Industry Council meetings chaired by John Hutton, nuclear industry lobbyist and former energy minister under Labour. EDF Energy's Vincent de Rivaz was among those present at the second meeting.

Then in May 2013, Fallon met separately to 'discuss 'energy policy' with EDF Energy's lobbyists Bellenden, pro-nuclear lobbying group Energy UK and Energy North, as well as key firms Horizon and Hitachi. No further details were provided. In June 2013 his 'energy policy' and 'introductory' meetings included other firms with nuclear interests namely Toshiba, E.ON and China National Nuclear Corporation.

Russian deal

In September 2013 at meeting with the Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom Director General, Sergey Kirienko, Fallon signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for Rosatom, Finnish utility Fortum and the UK's Rolls-Royce to jointly explore building and operating VVER nuclear power plants in the UK. The three firms will prepare a VVER reactor generic design assessment and assess opportunities for licensing of a nuclear power plant construction site in the UK. Rosatom’s VVER reactors currently operate in 11 countries. World Nuclear News reported that,

Fallon said that he welcomed the agreements signed by the three companies, adding that all reactor technologies adopted in the UK must meet the “stringent and independent” regulatory standards required in the UK and the EU.

EDF Hinkley deal

Fallon has played a key role in the Government's torturous negotiations with EDF Energy to agree an electricity 'strike price' for the French nuclear firm to move ahead on its Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project.

In October 2013 Fallon defended the Coalition's decision to guarantee the price for each megawatt hour of power produced by Hinkley at £92.50, four times as much as originally proposed by EDF when the project was first mooted, and twice today's wholesale prices. Nuclear power stations, he told The Daily Telegraph, will ultimately prove a cheaper and less controversial alternative than wind power.

This is the first in a wave of new nuclear plants to replace the ageing fleet that Labour did nothing to tackle. Without new nuclear local people would face many thousands more wind farms blighting our landscape. By contrast, nuclear power is popular in areas that have existing stations and will deliver significant jobs and investment.

The much-criticised deal however still needs to be reviewed under the European Commission's state aid rules, which could take another 12 months. But if given the go-ahead, EDF Energy will earn billions of pounds of income, effectively from the UK taxpayer.

Fracking

Fallon has been a critical player in the Coalition government's push to go 'all-out for shale gas'.

In answer to a written question to the House of Commons on 12 June 2014 about how many (a) officials and (b) Ministers in Fallon's Department have visited Lancashire for purposes related to fracking since 2010. Fallon said:

I and a number of my officials have made a number of visits to Lancashire in relation to fracking gas operations and are regularly in touch with a number of stakeholders in the region.

On 24 April I took part in a conference organised by the North West Energy Taskforce and the two Lancashire Chambers of Commerce in order to highlight to Lancashire business the potential opportunities from successful fracking gas development.

Dinner with lobbyists

A seating plan of the Conservative Party's Black and White Ball, in February 2014, was leaked to the Guardian in October 2014. The party, which guests pay between £450 and £1000 for a ticket, seats diners with the minister most relevant to them. The report revealed that whilst energy minister, Fallon dined with Alexander Temerko, a director of Offshore Group Newcastle, a firm which supplies the offshore renewable energy industry. Joining Fallon and Temerko at the table were James Wharton and Alun Cairns, who are MPs of constituencies where the offshore wind farms have been proposed and have both benefited from donations directly from Temerko.

Background

Fallon was born in Scotland, and educated at Epsom College.

Fallon is a graduate of St Andrews University (MA Honours) and began his political career as MP for Darlington from 1983-1992. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt.Hon. Cecil Parkinson, Secretary of State for Energy from 1987 to 1988 when he became a Government Whip. In 1990 he joined Margaret Thatcher's Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Schools Minister), and continued to serve under John Major.

Between 1992 and 1997 he developed his business career as a director of three companies founded by Dragons Den star Duncan Bannatyne before returning to Parliament in 1997. He served as a shadow Treasury Minister under William Hague before joining the Treasury Select Committee of which he was deputy chairman from 2001 until 2010.

Affiliations

• Associate Parliamentary Group on Wholesale Financial Markets and Services
• House of Commons Treasury Select Committee
• Tullett Prebon brokerage - held an independent non-executive director, for which he received a regular quarterly payment ranging between £6,436.08 and £7947.78. He resigned this directorship on 28 May 2010 , was reappointed 28 September 2010.
• Attendo AB - Scandinavian social and health care provider. Received annual fee of £13,651.09 net. Hours: 20 hrs approximately. (Registered 17 January 2012). Resigned 25 April 2012
• Quality Care Homes plc (nursing homes), former director
• Just Learning Ltd (day nurseries), former director

Connections

• His special adviser at BIS was James Wild, a former lobbyist for Hanover Communications.

Publications

• The Quango Explosion: Public Bodies and Ministerial Patronage by Philip Holland and Michael Fallon, 1978, Conservative Political Centre ISBN 0-85070-621-1
• Sovereign Members by Michael Fallon, 1982
• The Rise of the Euroquango by Michael Fallon, 1982, Adam Smith Institute ISBN 0-906517-22-2
• Brighter Schools: Attracting Private Investment into State Schools by Michael Fallon, 1993, Social Market Foundation ISBN 1-874097-15-1

Resources

• Community benefits for sites that host new nuclear power stations. Written Ministerial Statement by Energy Minister, Michael Fallon, on the benefits for communities hosting new nuclear power stations. Department of Energy & Climate Change, Delivered on 17 July 2013.
• Tamasin Cave, Has the Energy Minister been hanging out with fracking lobbyist?, Spinwatch blog, 7 October 2013

Contact

Address:Sevenoaks Conservatives, Becket House, Vestry Road, Sevenoaks, TN14 5EL

Email: office@sevenoakstory.org.uk /

Website: http://www.sevenoaksconservatives.org