Malcolm Wicks
Contents
Background
Wicks has been the Member of Parliament in north Croydon since 1992, first representing Croydon North-West and since 1997 representing Croydon North.
In 1999 Tony Blair appointed him a junior Minister in the Department for Education & Employment. In July 2001 he moved to the Department for Work & Pensions where he was promoted in 2003 to Minister of State for Pensions. Following the last General Election he was appointed Minister for Energy in the Department for Trade and Industry. [1]
He is therefore the Minister responsible for the Energy Review.
How Neutral on Nuclear?
In February 2006, The Guardian reported how, although he is supposedly "neutral" about nuclear power, he "just can't help himself slagging off anyone who argues that Britain can do without it. Last week he was talking to the Scottish press about Germany's plans to shut down its nuclear plants. 'I would at least hope that the environmental fundamentalists would ... think through the implications', he said. Asked to identify those 'fundamentalists, he said: 'I mean people who are so committed to the environmental agenda but who imagine that the answer can be windmills and some tidal power and some solar power and some recycling.' Wicks's balanced energy review will be presented to Tony Blair in the summer."
The Guardian continued: "In the meantime, perhaps Wicks could inform the public about the mysterious public consultations that the Department of Trade and Industry is supposed to be holding on the energy review. So far there have been no announcements, no postings on the website and no reporting of what was said by whom to whom". [2]
A Clean Source of Power?
During his February 2006 Scottish visit, Wicks also said: "Our paramount concern (is) to have an energy supply which is clean, and nuclear is a clean source of energy." In response, the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens accused Wicks of "hysterics" and of spinning a pro-nuclear line from London. [3]
A Lethal Legacy
Just months before Wicks said nuclear was clean he was said to be shocked at the way nuclear waste had been handled and stored. Quoted in the New Stateman he said: "I think it is an absolute disgrace that the industry, governments, parliaments have not confronted this legacy before. There is a huge irresponsibility which a lot of people should take responsibility for, by which I mean governments of different political hues over several decades." [4]
External Links
- ^ John Vidal, Eco Soundings, The Guardian, March 1, 2006, Society, page8
- ^ BBC News, Fury at Nuclear Debate Comments, February 23, 2006.
