Unite: The Government must make the UK's energy needs a priority says Unite leader

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Wednesday, 04, Jun 2008 12:00

Derek Simpson, the joint leader of Unite will today (4th June) call on the Government to make the UK's energy needs a priority as families are struggling to keep up with rising household bills and the rising price of oil.

The union will call on the government to do every thing in its power to speed up the building of a new generation of power stations which the union believes is the answer to reducing the UK's fuel bills while creating thousands of new jobs.

Speaking to delegates at Unite's industrial conference, Joint General Secretary, Derek Simpson will say,

"There is no evidence that we'll see our household fuel bills coming down in the near future. It is absolutely imperative that we reduce our reliance on foreign gas and oil.

"Building a new generation of nuclear power stations and clean coal fired power stations will create 10,000 jobs in manufacturing in the UK, reduce our reliance on foreign gas and oil and start to reduce household bills by 2015. It won’t be popular with the Russians, or the French or the even the greens, but they don’t vote Labour."

Unite, Britain's biggest union welcomes the Government's support for nuclear energy a key part of its low carbon and secure energy policy. However, the union is warning that there is no point in reducing the UK's dependency (which Unite supports) on imported oil and gas from Russia, to then become dependent on France to supply our nuclear technology. The UK's supply chain/manufacturing industry must carry out the majority of the work associated with any new nuclear reactors to be built in the UK.

The union also supports clean coal and carbon capture technologies but they have to be given financial support in terms of research and development and once again our supply chain/manufacturing industry in the UK has to be fully involved in this work programme.

Yesterday, Mr Simpson called for a windfall tax on the billion pound profits of oil companies and claimed it "would redefine Gordon Brown's premiership and win back votes for Labour."

Mr Simpson continued, "Labour needs to address the real concerns of real life people. The price of oil is hitting drivers as is the rising prices of fuel, household goods and mortgages. If Labour is to win the next general election, Gordon Brown must reconnect with the core vote and put money back into their pockets."

"Intensive energy users are also being hit by rising energy prices which is a factor leading to job losses in manufacturing. Without action, industry will continue to be crippled due to increasing energy prices."

ENDS

Contact Ciaran Naidoo 07768 931 315