The Chancellor said the new nuclear station at Hinkley Point in Somerset was needed to keep the lights on as ageing power plants go out of action.
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Britain and China agreed today to a series of initiatives ranging from an expanded currency swap agreement, Chinese investment in British nuclear power, and a feasibility study for a scheme to connect the London and Shanghai stock markets.
‘It is another move forward for the golden relationship between Britain and China – the world’s oldest civil nuclear power and the world’s fastest growing civil nuclear power’.
Speaking at the start of an annual economic and financial dialogue, Osborne said that there was probably no country in the West that was more open to Chinese investment than Britain.
“There is another opportunity for Chinese investment, in high speed rail, in the north of England”, he added, without elaborating.
The Chancellor also downplayed the recent slump in Chinese stock markets and skepticism over the future outlook for China’s economy: “Over the last 15 years, China has surpassed the United Kingdom , France, Germany and Japan to become the world’s second largest market”.
“I want us to forge closer economic and cultural links with China”, Osborne said in the statement.
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury Lord O’Neill said: “Our commitment to build a Northern Powerhouse is clear, but this trip is set to highlight our plans for growth on a global scale, by showcasing to Chinese investors the many exciting opportunities in the North”. Analysts, the Guardian says, have questioned the economics of the project, which at £24.5bn (€33.66, $38.06bn), is the combined total cost of the Crossrail, the London 2012 Olympics and the revamped Terminal 2 at Heathrow.
When completed, it will be Britain’s first new nuclear power station for 20 years.
“Hinkley hasn’t got funding or safety clearance, and everyone outside the nuclear industry and our blinkered Government thinks it’s absurd, yet the chancellor is ignoring them all to plough ahead with this overpriced, overrated, and overtime project”.
The GMB union welcomed the financial guarantee, but warned it should not be linked to a green light for the use of Chinese nuclear technology at Bradwell in Essex.
“For all his obsession with fiscal responsibility, George Osborne is signing up the country for the ultimate rip-off deal”.
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He said he had insisted that as well as trips to regional centres like Chengdu in Sichaun and Urumqi in Xinjiang, his visit should include a trip to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, in order for him to deliver a message of confidence in the Chinese economy following this summer’s turmoil.
