Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement

 
 
Tuesday, 13th May 2008

Evening News / Sony Centre Reverse Auction

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.

Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the The Scotsman site.

Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

Sign In
Register

SNP's nuclear reaction



Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 08 May 2008
By DAVID MADDOX
IT WAS a straightforward question with an apparently straightforward answer – what responsibilities are devolved in relation to any decision to commission and locate a new nuclear power station in Scotland?
But the question, by Mike Weir, the SNP MP for Angus, certainly touched a raw nerve on domestic policy north and south of the border. The confusion and debate it caused has been revealed in a freedom of information request published by the Scottish ...



The full article contains 899 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

Stepford Nat,

08/05/2008 00:03:17
Scottish Power for Scottish People (present companies accepted)
2

Boggle fey the Bog,

08/05/2008 00:48:01
The only answer is 100% devolution!!!
3

Senga Jean,

08/05/2008 00:50:18
Planning law has not been retained by Westminster!
4

Scotindy,

Los Angeles 08/05/2008 01:02:06
There is only one way to get rid of all this confusion, INDEPENDENCE!!!!Let's get it done and move forward.
5

David MacVicar,

web 08/05/2008 01:35:12
Move along nothing to see here...Almost!

This info has been available for some time but the info recently published in the FOI Scottish government section clarifies any doubts and adds a few interesting details.

The Scottish Government can call in any planning on ANY Energy project and stop it. Just as they did for the Lewis Wind farm project.

Incidentally Nuclear Waste disposal is also devolved so no Nuclear waste will be dumped in Scotland while the SNP are here to say No. And they ARE saying No. With a touch of gallous 'get it up ye'!

Westminster had a snowballs chance in hell of pushing Nuclear in Scotland despite what posturing Des Browne emphatically stated ( acting like a complete moron seems to be in vogue with Labour these days).

The only interesting part of the latest FOI part is that Labour and LDs in Scotland refused to even entertain Nuclear in Scotland until waste issues were resolved. Waste issues are still not resolved but London Labour pushed it through anyway (nothing to do with Gordon Browns brother working in a key position within EDF of course!)

To clarify 'waste issues were resolved' means:
a) effective means of treatment and containment.
b) agreed locations and methods for long term storage.

a) is debatable but doable, while b) simply has not happened.

The FOI info exposes Scottish Labour, once again, for the party political hypocrites we all now know they well and truely are.

Luckily Labour are going critical and are in an unstoppable chain reaction towards complete meltdown!
Not so luckily the Tories have pretty much the same policies, standards and ethics.
6

democracy,

Scottish Borders 08/05/2008 06:01:32
Scotland cannot go wrong with independence!

All she has to do , is watch everything that westminster does and do the opposite and we will get it right every time!!!
7

haggis 10,

The Capital City of Edinburgh 08/05/2008 06:43:21
if nuclear power is so important to the british economy then I suggest they be resited at the following locations Dartmoor, The Yorkshire Moors, The Isle of Wight,the Norfolk Broads,and The Isle of Dogs.This should more than satisfy the needs of a English (British) economy for energy in the future, Short as it is!!!
8

Bob Christie,

08/05/2008 07:37:10
From the piece;

"By declaring that they will object to nuclear power stations on principle, they could be breaking the law."

Good. Let's see Westminster take Holyrood to court then!

#7

Well said. I understand the Thames estuary is an ideal location for all the nuclear power stations that England will need.

9

Unimpressed one,

08/05/2008 08:38:46
Christ here we go, welcome to independent Scotland, 2018. In order to comply with 80% reduction in carbon emissions, we will be rationed on air travel, frequent power cuts of energy that will be more expensive than any where else in Europe and a landscape decimated with turbines. Not to mention that Gaelic will be forced down our kids throats and Scottish culture the basis of 50% of TV and radio programmes. No bloody thanks Salmond!
10

Auld Twa,

Edinburgh 08/05/2008 08:39:54
The principle of siting power generating equipment as near as possible to where the power is going to be consumed surely applies here as well as to green sources, where the regulator penalises use of remote sources by high grid connection charges.
11

shivago8,

livingston 08/05/2008 08:52:48
IMMATERIAL who is in charge of our country,we still have a say of what is happening in it
12

shivago8,

livingston 08/05/2008 08:57:25
9 unimpressed.
YOU APPEAR TO BE THE TYPE OF GUY THAT NOTHING IMPRESSES.
Sit up and advocate change,surely it cant be worse than the present day circus fiasco.
Scotland is being shafted and we need to tell people,enough is enough.
13

Alan B,

08/05/2008 09:40:41
The mess labour have made with devolution makes independence the sensible answer.

At first instance it would make sense to devolve energy along with many other things to stop the fudge over these issues that labour created.
14

Highland Mighty,

08/05/2008 11:17:06
Let's have the referendum now and shut these boring *****s up for good.

God, they are on here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the same old rants and absolute belief that Salmond is perfect in every way. Pathetic.
15

ed.,

in edin 08/05/2008 11:24:37
#2

100% devolution means not allowing any decisions affecting Scotland to be taken by anyone except Scotland. Therefore having no truck with the EU, WTO, NATO, WEU, IPO, UN, IMF, World Bank, etc, etc.

Whatever your opinion of these bodies (I have many criticisms), total isolation from them would be difficult to abide, were it even possible.

The UK is just another level of decision making. It is a sensible and useful one for a wide range of reasons, not least because we share a group of islands, with concomitant intertwined culture and history. It also simplifies our relationships to all the other international "quasi non-autonomous" governmental bodies.

We can argue about the correct distribution of powers within the UK, and personally I would always go with the principle of subsidiarity, but independence as such - the "sovereign state" - is something of a myth, or at least a legal fiction, in the modern world.

As such the quest for the holy grail of independence is essentially a diversion that gets in the way tackling the hugely important issues that face the world, from poverty and inequality to global warmimg, whose solution needs cooperation and effective decision making at all levels of government. If we have to vote on "independence", it would be best to get it over and done with and out of the way, so that we can get on with the important stuff.

My main fear is that the argument will keep coming back and monopolising the attention of politicians to the detriment of other matters. There will of course be social, cultural, environmental and economic gains and losses from greater autonomy. I suspect these will largely balance out, which is why I think the argument is first and foremost a fruitless exercise in time wasting that is being forced upon us.

If we are going to vote, we should have a quick referendum; accept the outcome(a neverendum would be the worst possible result); and then get back to the important work of improving our qua
16

Calvinist,

08/05/2008 12:25:58
"Quite clearly, in the modern world, independence and interdependence are parts of the same coin, parts of the same process" Salmondballs- discuss.

17

Awake,

North Lanarkshire 08/05/2008 14:05:12

Independence!
18

Calvinist,

08/05/2008 14:49:12
#17

But your leader does not agree! See recent interview in the Guardian.

It's really conforting to know that we will all have the same monarch though (will she pay taxes in the independent utopia?).
19

interstellarmince,

outer-space 08/05/2008 16:37:54
#18 referring to utopias

The union utopia, in case you haven’t ventured through any of the current housing schemes in Scotland, is crap – not fit for purpose. It a misnomer, SLAB never delivered a utopia to the people of Scotland only to themselves - a cash utopia. SLAB are criminals and must go. I would like to see them lifted, charged and jailed for their crimes.

Alex Salmond will use all his political acumen to get Scotland its desperately needed independence and I’ll accept his original timing for a referendum even though it means waiting two years. Regardless of what you want to believe, a referendum right now would be a landslide YES for independence. This has to be run fair and free by the Scottish Government to avoid London Establishment ‘anomalies’. You’ll find the self-same ‘anomalies’ in the London Establishment controlled media.
20

Calvinist,

08/05/2008 16:48:50
#18


Calm down! To quote the great Salmond again in case you did not get it the frist time: "Quite clearly, in the modern world, independence and interdependence are parts of the same coin, parts of the same process" Can you explian to me a simple soul waht this means?

PS who else do you intend to lock up in the new Jerusalem?
21

The Tin Man,

Over the Rainbow 08/05/2008 17:44:32
#20 Calvinist

It means that when you are independent, you are dependent on others, especially with regard to coins and processes.

 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 

More Politics

More Politics >>

More Government & public affairs pages

More Government & public affairs pages >>

Features

Supplements
Scotsman Digital Archive
Scotsman Hotels Scotsman Hotels

Featured Advertising



Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.