| Party conferences | | Print | |
| Wednesday, 06 December 2006 | |
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Following a successful political party conference season last year, when the Prime Minister, announced the Energy Review, the Nuclear Industry Association felt it would be essential to participate fully again this year. We organised and sponsored events at Trade Union Congress as well as all three of the political party conferences. Trade Union Congress At TUC in Brighton we sponsored a Trade Unions for Safe Nuclear Energy (TUSNE ) fringe meeting. Speakers were Paul Noon, General Secretary, Prospect, Jack Dromey, Deputy General Secretary from the Transport & General Workers Union, Gary Smith, National Officer from GMB, with Dougie Rooney, Regional Officer of Amicus chairing the event. The presentations from all the speakers portrayed nuclear as a vital part of a balanced energy mix, and emphasised the importance of the future of the industry to the workers in the sector. Some excellent developments are taking place as a result of the networking opportunity between some of our member companies and the trade unionists, on which we will report in the future. Liberal Democrat conference The Liberal Democrat conference, while staunch in its policy against nuclear power formally, witnessed a number of both Parliamentarians and councillors demonstrating their support of nuclear in the future. John Thurso MP, chaired an NIA fringe meeting on decommissioning during which he stated that whether one is in support of or against nuclear power for the future, the current power stations and research facilities coming to the end of their natural lifetimes must be decommissioned, and this is a national responsibility. Sir Anthony Cleaver, Chairman of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority spoke alongside Justin Goldberg from Jacobs Babtie and Linda MacLean from the Young Generation Network. The event put the industry in a new light, leaving the audience feeling that there is a positive aspect to decommissioning which they had not perhaps considered before. NIA also sponsored a fringe meeting on ‘The Energy Review: Did the Government get it right?', run by Centre Forum, a liberal think tank, with John Thurso MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy Minister David Howarth MP and Roger Milne from Utility Week speaking. The event had a good audience, who appeared to be balanced in support and against nuclear power, but who enjoyed a good debate on the subject. Despite the negativity towards nuclear within the conference hall, there was a surprising amount of support from within the party. We also held a dinner at the conference where a number of MPs as well as Lord McNally, Leader in the House of Lords, attended as guests, showing their support for the industry. At other fringe events, the NIA representatives took the opportunity to network with environment spokesman Chris Huhne MP, party leader Menzies Campbell MP, Science and Technology Committee Chairman Phil Willis MP and other influential members of the party. Labour Party conference NIA took an exibition stand at the Labour Party conference. Our eye catching display was excellent with many attractions, such as scratch cards, which drew plenty of attention. The jobmap was displayed on the stand, as well as key messages from the industry, and an array of literature from sponsoring member companies. The stand was extremely popular and instigated lively discussions with ministers; parliamentarians; delegates and other exhibitors. We were delighted with the positive reception for the nuclear industry, with most visitors to the stand understanding the necessity to include nuclear power as part of the energy mix. Having a presence as an exhibitor allowed the NIA and member companies to engage with those who had general questions or concerns relating to the nuclear industry. Common concerns were with regards to long term storage of waste and terrorism. The NIA will strive to provide accessible factual information on this to allay the fears of the public on behalf of the industry. NIA held a hugely successful fringe meeting with the Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, and the Environment Minister, Ian Pearson, both on the platform. Alongside them were Paul Noon of Prospect and Paul Longsworth of Fluor, with Jamie Reed MP chairing the event. There were in excess of 120 delegates attending the meeting and a positive position on nuclear energy from all speakers. Members of the audience included energy industry representatives, MPs, journalists and trade unionists. NIA also held a dinner as a thank you to our sponsoring member companies in attendance with some of our supportive MPs and associate companies and organisations also present. NIA representatives attended several fringe meetings on energy during the week, including a ‘climate clinic' where David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, on a platform alongside Friends of the Earth's Tony Juniper and Maria McCaffery from the British Wind Energy Association, insisted that nuclear had to be part of the solution to our climate change problems. While the conference and NIA's activities during the week were all tremendously successful, the highlight of the Labour conference was the Prime Minister's confirmation of his support for civil nuclear power in his speech (see front page article). Conservative Party conference The NIA were equally well received at the Conservative Party conference, with another packed NIA fringe meeting on the question of ‘Nuclear: a last resort?' Tim Yeo MP, Chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee made an excellent case for renewed nuclear power for the UK, the meeting was chaired by Robert Goodwill MP and Fluor also provided a speaker, Paul Longsworth. A dinner with a number of MPs and MEPs was a lively affair and an NIA-sponsored TUSNE breakfast fringe meeting with Alan Duncan MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, speaking also went down very well. Attendance levels were high and Duncan made it clear that the party was serious about facilitating new nuclear build, despite the view of some members of the Shadow Cabinet. NIA representatives attended a number of meetings on energy and were quick to address any concerns raised on waste management and the economics of nuclear. 2006 has proved to be the best conference season for NIA so far, with successful events and a very positive response across the board. When combined with the latest MORI survey of all MPs (see editorial), which has shown such a swing in favour of nuclear, it can really be seen that the message is getting across. |
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