ANAS Sarwar has doubled down on claims that nuclear power has to be “part of the mix” of Scotland’s energy supply as he relaunched a Green Labour initiative.
The Scottish Labour leader wouldn’t rule out new nuclear power plants in Scotland at his party's conference in September this year, and still hasn’t changed his position.
Sarwar said he was relaunching Green Labour to put pressure on both the Scottish and UK governments to “turn the rhetoric into action”.
Citing COP26, Sarwar said that he wanted to build on the “energy” of the summit and make sure that promises are kept.
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But, when probed on his comments regarding nuclear power and concerns about the cost of creating new plants and the creation of nuclear waste, and how this squares with relaunching Green Labour, he doubled down.
The Scottish Greens slammed the comments and said Scottish Labour "need to get to grips with what ‘green’ means when it comes to energy".
Although nuclear power plants do not produce any greenhouse gasses during operation, making it have a low-carbon output, there are concerns over the other impacts it has.
According to Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland, nuclear power is “slow to build, eye-wateringly expensive and dangerous” and states that there is no “agreed solution” for dealing with nuclear waste which needs to be monitored for thousands of years.
One of Scotland's nuclear power stations is in Torness on the east coast
Scotland currently has two nuclear power stations, Hunterston B in Hunterston, North Ayrshire, and Torness near Dunbar, East Lothian.
Sarwar said: “I think we have to be honest about future opportunities and I think nuclear power has to be part of the mix.
“I’m not saying nuclear power has to be the priority or the lead or the driver but it has to be part of the mix so you have a diverse energy supply.”
He explained that his views on energy policy are based on affordability, security, and employability.
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He added: ”The idea that we can just shut down industries and instead import energy is not good for security, is not good for jobs and it's not good for affordability.
“So if we are going to have a credible integrated future plan away from fossil fuels I think nuclear has to be part of that.”
Asked by The National why he was pursuing a policy that even the Scottish Tories eventually dropped from their manifesto, Sarwar said: “I don’t want to sacrifice jobs, we’ve got to take the public with us and that means having a credible energy policy not just making bold promises without delivering them.”
Scotland’s two nuclear power stations are set to be decommissioned, asked if he would support extending them being kept open or opening new sites, Sarwar said that was part of what he tasked former energy minister Brian Wilson to look at through the parties Energy Commission.
Sarwar on an electric bus in Shettleston, Glasgow, on Friday
At the relaunch in Shettleston, Glasgow, The National asked what was new from Green Labour compared to the party's 2021 Scottish Parliament manifesto he said he wanted Labour to “challenge themselves”.
Sarwar added: ”I’m not going to pretend I’ve got all the answers and all the ideas, so what I want to do is build a coalition of support, people across the country, so together we can come up with the energy and ideas.”
Pressed for an example of something new in the relaunch, Sarwar added: “A good example is I don’t think we were ambitious enough in jobs creation, in green job creation, I think we need to be much more ambitious.
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“I think there is a disconnect to be honest between what politicians say in terms of the rhetoric and what it means for individual communities.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Labour need to get to grips with what ‘green’ means when it comes to energy.
"Nuclear power produces waste which remains deadly for hundreds of thousands of years - longer than any material currently exists which can contain it.
"That is no legacy to leave our children. What’s more, Sarwar’s comments suggest he sees a role for oil and gas in this energy ‘mix’.
"If Labour were serious about jobs creation, he should get behind our plans to massively boost renewable energy in Scotland, including doubling our capacity for onshore wind, with guarantees on jobs in the supply chain.
"That is what is being delivered with greens in government.”
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