The Government has suffered a double defeat at the hands of peers over its move to put in place a domestic nuclear safeguards regime after leaving the European Union.
The setback came as the Tory administration was accused of “playing Russian roulette” with the UK’s energy security by quitting Europe’s nuclear regulator.
During report stage of the Nuclear Safeguards Bill in the House of Lords, peers backed by 265 votes to 194, majority 71, a call to delay Britain leaving Euratom if no alternative agreements were in place in the run-up to Brexit day.
The Government was subsequently dealt a second blow over the reporting of future arrangements with the watchdog on nuclear research and development, as well as the import and export of qualifying nuclear material.
Labour’s amendment, which had Liberal Democrat and crossbench support, was approved by 244 votes to 194, majority 50.
A series of peers raised concerns over leaving Euratom without having other arrangements in place.
Energy minister Lord Henley said the triggering of the formal proceedings for quitting the EU also started the process for leaving Euratom and insisted it was a “done deal”.
He insisted the Government was “on track” to secure agreements with Britain’s nuclear partners post-Brexit.
But independent crossbencher Lord Broers, former vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge and president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, argued the need “to give us the confidence that these agreements are complete and appropriate and will maintain the highest standards in safeguarding our nuclear power”.
Moving an amendment to the Bill, he said: “Of all the world’s complex technologies, nuclear power is surely one where we must maintain collaboration with our partners, especially those in Europe.”
Former Labour minister Lord Warner, who sits as an independent crossbencher, said: “The issue is the way that the Government has been playing Russian roulette with our energy security by the ill-considered and ideological rush to leave Euratom without being sure an equivalent regime is properly in place.”
He added: “Clearly a responsible government would stay in Euratom and not risk the disruption and uncertainty to a critical industry that departure brings, but not this one.”
Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Hutton of Furness, who is chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “It’s good to have a default, good to have a back-up.”
He said: “I don’t think any of us should take a gamble or a risk with the energy security of our country.”
Tory peer Viscount Trenchard argued there was an “upside” to leaving the regulator in that it would allow the UK “to escape from the rather cumbersome and onerous Euratom process”.
Opposition spokesman Lord Grantchester said there was “widespread opinion” that alternative agreements would not be in place by exit day in March 2019.
Lord Henley said “positive and constructive discussions” had been held with the US, Canada, Australia and Japan, and added: “I believe we remain on track to ensure these agreements will be in place in time.”
He argued the amendment would introduce “further uncertainty and potential disruption” by casting doubt on creating a domestic nuclear safeguards regime in the long-term.
On the other amendment, the minister argued the amendment was unnecessary as the Government was already committed to transparency and would provide quarterly reports to Parliament on the Euratom negotiations.
But Labour spokesman Lord Hunt of Kings Heath argued the Government should go further in offering assurances on nuclear safeguards.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel