I’m grateful to Frances who, after reading Labour’s new plans to streamline planning applications, wonders:
This sounds ominous … Holyrood depends on control of planning to hold back nuclear lobby?
Yesterday, in the National:
REFORMS to energy planning rules aimed at accelerating new clean power developments have been unveiled by the Scottish and UK governments. The Scottish Government has welcomed Labour’s announcement that they are “modernising outdated bureaucratic processes” to make it easier to develop new green energy projects.
Acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin said that the reforms – which are reserved to Westminster – would “help support Scotland realise our clean power ambitions”. The plans, which will be put out to consultation, aim to tackle delays to projects like building onshore wind farms and laying power lines.
The associated red tape with those projects mean it can take up to four years to approve schemes under legislation passed by Westminster 35 years ago, according to the UK Government. The UK Government also hopes to tidy up the planning appeals process by introducing set criteria on which developments can be challenged as well as bringing in a new 6-week time limit in which objections can be raised.
Currently, challenges to large onshore projects must be brought by judicial review within three months, which can cause delays.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24683016.snp-hail-labour-reforms-scottish-planning-laws-energy/
Given Labour’s clearly-stated determination, backed by the GMB, to build new nuclear power stations in Scotland, regardless of public or expert opinion, I share a sense of unease, with Frances, on this.
Only 6 weeks for objections? Very dangerous.
Perhaps a reader could check out the detail for us?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
The legislation is supposedly for ‘green energy projects’ and ‘clean power’. Is nuclear ‘clean’ or ‘green’ ? Not in my book but the devil will be in the detail hidden in the legislation.
I am very suspicious.
Andy Pearson
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As far as those with fingers in the nuclear pie are concerned, nuclear energy is ad clean and green as they want it to be.
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Nuclear is considered a ‘green energy’ which is definitely a massive con.
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Please!!! Somebody tell me the SG isn’t so naive that they would fall for anything that motormouth tells them. From his political conception, where he sprouted from the unknown to fall into his Scottish seat, then parachute gracefully onto the front bench in WM, it’s been pretty obvious that he was a chosen one. Planted in Scotland to cause maximum harm along with a few of his new colleagues.
We can’t really blame the public for being gullible enough to elect them but we sure as hell can hold our elected parliamentarians to account if they don’t have the wit to see through such an obvious plot.
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Gillian Martin is ‘acting energy secretary’, we all need to contact her and ask why she trusts Labour on this at all, and even praises them!
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I was very suspicious when I read this. Planning is the only way we can stop Nuclear. Makes sense they would try to change it to allow them to build nuclear. Worrying that SG seem to be on board with this.
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Well the Scottish government may be getting “tricked by Shanks trojan horse legislation” however so are the people of Scotland, and not just by Shanks, but by Labour UK .
As talking of energy or rather lack of (providing) energy we now know that Labour’s GB Energy has a new chairman, appointed in July, who will be based in Manchester.
(Convenient for him, the new Chairman, to then liaise with Manchester’s Labour Metro Mayor Andy Burnham and perhaps acquire a proportion of ‘GB’ Energy jobs and investment for his , Burnham’s, city Manchester).
For those lacking geographical knowledge on the UK , Manchester is not in Scotland , as in the supposed place that Keir Starmer declared would be the “heart” of his government’s new GB Energy company.
To be fair though, many in Scotland who voted for Labour UK in the GE were obviously not paying full attention to Keir Starmer’s various speeches and declarations on GB Energy company in relation to Scotland’s actual total involvement.
Such as the focus being on “Britain’s clean energy future” , making “the UK a clean energy superpower”, “British Jobs Bonus”, “make Britain energy secure”, ” plans to ‘harness Britain’s clean energy future” and a “£2.5bn British Jobs Bonus fund to invest in Britain’s energy heartlands”.
Of course in the context of Scotland in relation to GB Energy we get a HQ nameplate based in Aberdeen and we are told that the GB Energy Manchester based Chairman will “regularly spend time in Aberdeen and travel to meet businesses and partners across the UK”.
(Well that’s nice to know that he, the Chairman, “will spend time in the supposed, but is it really, HQ of GB Energy based apparently in Scotland. Surely if he didn’t ‘visit’ the HQ then you could be forgiven for thinking that what they, Labour, say is the HQ , is not , but instead is merely an HQ in title only (a nameplate exercise) but in reality the real HQ business is being done elsewhere in the UK -i.e. England).
As an aside Juergen Maier as the new Labour party’s GB Energy Chairman, formerly he, Maier, was the boss of Siemens and was a regular panellist on BBC QT as a supposed ‘impartial’ and non politically aligned businessman (not now though, as in now that he is linked to a ‘Top’ job as Chairman on a Labour government project).
As to GB Energy’s purpose, well depending on who is being interviewed (and by whom) , we often hear a vague description of what it supposdley is by some Labour politicians and also some even try to indicate it will provide energy to households.
So just to clear up any confusion we now know it will not provide electricity to homes in their UK but instead it is reported as that which “will own, manage and operate clean power projects and it will do this by working with the Private sector to co-invest in energy technology”, some may even see this as another Labour PFI rebranding via this new Labour government’s GB renewable energy project.
(It is also regarded as yet another UK government selling of Scotland’s resources for others to benefit from and also profit by).
So , for Scotland, GB Energy is very much a Trojan Horse that hides the fact that it is not Scotland who will reap all of the benefits from our own sourced resources that Labour are sourcing mainly from here in Scotland, but that will see others reap the rewards from it , both financially and via energy supply.
As it is clearly, a Labour government ploy to provide energy benefits mostly for the rest of the UK (England) whose own potential and capacity in renewable energy is not equal to that of Scotland’s.
Also Private investors will reap profits from our resources being sold off (again) and where just like our abundance of Oil, Scotland will remain considered the subsidised nation within their UK , that only survives we are told because it is a part of the UK.
(The same UK that needs our abundant energy supply to survive but they , Labour UK, frame as being their GB energy not Scotland’s).
Rogues, parcel of etc etc
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Yep sounds extremely ominous. The English UK Labour party are not to trusted on anything except to tell lies and more lies, and this sounds more like deregulation than anything. Will the SNP fall for such a ruse, they damn well better not.
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If something is presented as a joint UK and Scottish government venture or joint enterprise then we all know, as should the SNP by now, that if the proverbial you know what hits the fan further down the line, who it will be , between both governments , that will get the sole blame for any problems occurring.
Clue, it will not be the UK government.
Or indeed if the Scottish government are promoted as agreeing to or “praising” any initiative from any UK government that involves Scotland, but clearly does not deserve either ‘agreement’ or “praise” as a UK driven government project, then they, the Scottish government , need to be more aware they , as the Scottish government, will also then be held as mostly being responsible and liable for any negatives associated with that venture further down the line.
I think you have to be able to see , especially the SNP, when something is an obvious trap or at least is something that will possibly see future attacks being made on your participation and agreement as the Scottish government , on what was a flawed and ill conceived UK government initiative.
My understanding is that Scotland does not want, via a majority , nuclear power in Scotland or indeed nuclear weapon carrying submarines berthed here in Scotland.
I hope the SNP are not just complying with this supposed “modernising of outdated bureaucratic process” by Labour, which will supposdley “make it easier to develop new green energy projects” (yet is also really an excuse to get more Nuclear Power stations in Scotland under the guise of them being supposed sources of “green” ‘energy’).
That is in the SNP “welcoming” what will be an excuse to build more Nuclear power stations here but they, the SNP, only “welcome” this Labour initiative on green energy projects to try to avoid further media confrontation, as in attacks upon them, for not supposdley supporting a source of ‘Green’ energy via the Labour UK government.
As we all know the media rule for the SNP is ‘Damned if they do and damned if they don’t’ so they may as well , as a party, stick to what is meant to be their principles on all things Nuclear in Scotland.
Which is that they are against all things Nuclear.
#BairnsNotBombs and that goes for Nuclear power stations too.
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Are you listening Gillian I seem to recall that the SNP and Scot Government are on record of saying they will not allow any new Nuclear facility to be built in Scotland so as an elderly SNP member of many years and five grandchildren I will be holding them to their promise or else.
Robbo
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I have emailed Gillian Martin MSP regarding our concerns with a link to the article on TUS.
I suggest that others contact their SNP representatives on this subject as well.
My own view, is that this is just another way to circumvent the Scottish Government, much as Westminster will deny it. Plus if it goes ahead, the UK’s nuclear waste will be foisted on Scotland.
We don’t need it and we don’t want it.
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I can see why the Scottish Government are happy to see reforms by the UK government to the Electricity Act 1989.
It took the UK government four years to give investers in several hydro-electric power projects in Scotland, which already had planning consent from the Scottish Government, a ‘guaranteed minimum price’ for the electricity these schemes would produce. The decision means construction work which can take up to eight years to complete can now start. Had the decision been made four years ago we would be seeing several half-completed dams this year.
The threat of new nuclear power plants in Scotland comes from a coalition of unionist parties forming a government in 2026 giving planning consent.
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Not just nuclear. Fracking.
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I think we all need to remember that Energy is not a devolved “power” in Scotland and that if Westminster English lab/cons want to build nuclear reactors here then they WILL and there will be hee haw we can do about it regardless of planning laws being devolved. The “Supreme Court” of England have a track record on riding roughshod over devolved powers remember.
In saying that I think I will wait until the detail of this “agreement” are published officially from source (not from our wonderful media outlets) and then decide what it ACTUALLY means for Scotland. Surely SNP can’t be that stupid to allow open clauses that would shoot them in the foot (I know I know).
As far as I can see this is more about renewables……
“A renewable energy is constantly renewed. It is considered inexhaustible over time. The sources of renewable energy – the sun, the earth and the wind – are certainly inexhaustible……..not nuclear which is not…….Nuclear energy is produced from uranium, which is a naturally radioactive ore. This abundant resource is found on all the continents, notably in the Americas (Canada, Brazil and the United States), Europe (Ukraine and Russia), Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China and Mongolia), Oceania (Australia) and Africa (Niger, Namibia and South Africa).Although uranium is present in abundance on the planet, it is not inexhaustible. It is not reconstituted in the mines. This is why it is stock energy, as once this stock is exhausted, no more energy is available”.
JB………ALWAYS NO TO NUCLEAR YES TO SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE
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The problem I see for Labour, if this is as suspected a Trojan horse for nuclear, is a massive public backlash as almost nobody north or south of the border wants nuclear except HMG.
Nuclear has bugger all to do with ‘energy security’ as the State of a Secretary for Greggs pitched after the GE and the public know it, Murray was sent packing…
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