Jack Cunningham

Background

Nuclear Jack

Cunningham was the Labour MP for Copeland from 1970 until 2005, when he stood down at the General Election. Copeland is the constituency that includes the controversial nuclear plant at Sellafield. During his time in Parliament he was one of the most vocal pro-nuclear MPs and he was known as "Nuclear Jack" and was President of the "Friends of Sellafield Society." [1]

In 1999, the Ecologist Magazine noted: "Dr Jack Cunningham has gone further than almost any other Labour politician in supporting nuclear power. As MP for Copeland (previously Whitehaven) since 1970, it is not surprising that Cunningham has developed a relationship with the nuclear industry - the Sellafield plant is based in his constituency. It is the extent, however, of his pro-nuclear stance and the intimacy of his relationship with British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) that has rendered the objectivity of his decisions as a Minister open to question". [2]

He listed as one of his most important achievements as an MP as "Leading the campaign to safeguard the future of Sellafield and the 16,000 jobs it sustains". [3]

He was made a life peer and is now Lord Cunningham of Feling.

Cunningham is still a Patron of SONE[4]

Anti-Wind

In 1997, Friends of the Earth reported how "Dr Jack Cunningham MP, Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, is actively opposing two wind farms being proposed within his constituency on the grounds of visual intrusion despite the presence of Britain's largest nuclear facility, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd at Sellafield, only a few miles away. [5]