Alistair Darling
Contents
Background
Entered parliament in 1987. He was the Opposition home affairs spokesman from 88-92. Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 1996-7 and Chief Secretary to the Treasury after Labour's election victory in 1997-8.
In 1998, he became Work and Pensions Secretary, a position he held until 2002. On Stephen Byer's resignation, he became transport secretary which he held until becoming Trade and Industry Secretary in May 2006.
Acccording to a BBC profile, Darling “is regarded as one of Tony Blair's most trusted colleagues, despite keeping a foot firmly in the Gordon Brown camp”. [1]
We Cannot Ignore Nuclear
Soon after becoming Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling gave a speech to the Fabian Society on Energy. He said that "nuclear cannot be ignored. It generates a substantial part of our electricity now – much of it baseload." [2]
We Can’t Turn Our Back on Nuclear
Soon after Darling confirmed that the Government will not turn its back on nuclear power. Darling told the Commons at question time: "Nuclear waste is one aspect that needs to be looked at. Nuclear has provided us with a baseload supply of electricity. It represents about 19% of electricity generation at the moment. If we don't do anything it will go down to between 6% and 7% in the next 20 years or so. It is something that does need to be considered and I don't believe we can simply turn our back on that." [3]
External Links
The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Darling Pressed on Nuclear Power, June 13, 2006.
