Labour secretly attack Lib Dems in Scotland; problems over nuclear plants.

http://www.sundayherald.com/52110

Paul Hucheon, in The Sunday Herald, 2 October 2005, has a news story entitled:

'Blair adviser: attack LibDems by building a new nuclear power station at Dounreay'

According to the Herald:

"A senior adviser to the Prime Minister told Labour officials at a secret meeting at the Scottish Executive headquarters that building a new nuclear power station at Dounreay would be the ideal way of undermining their Liberal Democrat coalition colleagues.

"John McTernan – Tony Blair’s director of political operations – suggested the move as part of an orchestrated Labour attack on the LibDems in the run-up to the 2007 Holyrood elections.
He said the plan would boost the chances of First Minister Jack McConnell’s party winning Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, the seat that is home to Dounreay and which is held by the LibDems.

The proposal is part of a Labour strategy – personally approved by Blair – to attack the LibDems in the run up to the poll....

"The Sunday Herald understands that the Edinburgh meeting was part of a series of similar discussions . Blair chaired a meeting of Scottish MPs in the Cabinet room during the summer on the same subject. It was agreed that Scottish MPs would be “let off their leash” in the next two years, during which time they would dispute LibDem achievements in the Executive and attack their policies."

NUCLEAR WASTE

Dounreay's clean-up programme will cost the taxpayer at least £2.7 billion.

"This crazy plan just shows that the Labour Government can’t be trusted,’" said SNP leader Alex Salmond. "On Trident and energy, it seems that Scotland is the home of the Prime Minister’s nuclear ambitions."

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/article316607.ece

Geoffrey Lean, in The Independent on Sunday, 2 October 2005, writes that a secret report has revealed a catalogue of blunders at Sellafield.

A devastating "catalogue of dubious practices", including sabotage and safety measures based on "guesswork", at the Sellafield plant treating Britain's most dangerous nuclear waste is revealed in an internal report seen by The Independent on Sunday.

The whistleblowing document says that the plant - hitherto thought to be one of the better-run ones at the controversial Cumbrian complex - is "potentially dangerous" and is "becoming difficult to operate properly". One of its section headings reads: "Homer Simpson works at Sellafield".




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