'Listening Government' Musn't Play Deaf On Nuclear Concerns - Öpik

2.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 7th Jun 2006

"Nuclear power is not the answer to Wales' energy needs."

Lembit Öpik, MP for Montgomeryshire and Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said today the Government must be willing to work with environmental experts to establish a long term strategy for our energy needs.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Lembit asked Tony Blair for to meet with him and representatives from the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) to discuss how to meet Welsh energy needs without nuclear power.

"I am writing to the Prime Minister to follow up my request for a meeting.

"Many people are worried that the Government is attempting to pre-empt its own energy review, and force us into a particular path. The Government must show that it's willing to listen to the alternatives, and look at ways of meeting our energy needs without simply attempting to build its way out of trouble with one option that the PM seems to favour above the others.

"Welsh research institutes like CAT are leading the way in showing us how we can make Welsh energy cleaner, greener and ultimately cheaper. They've proved to me that we can both cut our energy needs and produce the energy we do require in sustainable ways. Splitting the atom is not as smart as axing our wastage. The Government should listen to the experts on how we can use renewables to give Wales a secure and sustainable energy supply."

ENDS

Notes:

At Prime Minister's Questions today, Lembit asked the following question:

"The Prime Minister rightly seeks to secure the UK's future energy needs. In this context, I wonder if, once the Energy review has published its findings, he would meet a delegation led by the Centre for Alternative Technology to discuss how Wales can address its energy needs by entirely sustainable means, without nuclear power; clearly such a meeting wouldn't commit him to that blueprint, but I think the dialogue would contribute towards our shared goal of addressing the looming energy crisis. "