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“Another day, another delay for the Hinkley green light”
The day May hit Hinkley with a delay arrived. Unfortunately for EDF and its Chinese backers CGN, it happened to be the same day the French energy giant made its final investment decision on the much delayed new nuclear power station.
The official BEIS line is that the new PM and energy team want to carefully consider all parts of the deal between the government and the EDF/CGN venture. It paints a picture of a duly diligent department only postponing the power plant because it’s the sensible thing for a new administration to do.
However, the former business secretary Vince Cable has shone a light on the motives behind the move: the ghost of George Osborne’s chancellorship.
Cable told BBC’s Today programme that May has concerns over the former chancellor’s “gung-ho” approach to deals with the Chinese in a bid to attract their investment into the UK. She is said to have objected to the deal at the time.
Other rumours are that there are security concerns over Chinese involvement and ownership of a British nuclear power station. It could also be that the prime minister and her new chancellor, Phillip Hammond, want to distance themselves from the approach of their predecessors.
EDF remains “confident” the government will sign off Hinkley Point C. And with international investors, and the UK’s reputation for sticking to its word, potentially at risk, everything still seems to be pointing towards the green light being given – albeit delayed. Again.
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