Whitehead loses his battle against nuclear power amid an uncomfortable Queen's Speech ?

Nice bling...

Blair challenged the Tories to back his plans for nuclear power yesterday but what about his MPs? One person who I imagine did not enjoy the Queen’s speech very much was Southampton MP Alan Whitehead. During the Queen’s Speech debate in the Commons yesterday, Mr Blair told the Tory leader that government energy policy was dictated not just by the need to tackle climate change but by reducing risks from future reliance on imported gas as North Sea oil runs out.

Mr Blair said,

“In common with countries around the world, we need to put nuclear power back on the agenda and at least replace the nuclear energy we will lose. Without it we will not be able to meet any of our objectives on climate change or our objectives on energy security.”

Britain’s nuclear industry currently provides 80 billion kWh of electricity a year, meeting almost 20 per cent of demand for energy, a figure that Mr Blair is committed to matching as the minimum output of the next generation of nuclear plants.

Quoting an interview in which Mr Cameron suggested that he would contemplate nuclear power only as a last resort if other renewable sources of energy were unable to meet demand, Mr Blair asked what he would do if the Cabinet Secretary came to tell him such an approach was not generating enough power.

Mr Blair asked,

“When over the next few years our nuclear power stations are closed, are we at least going to replace them? I say yes.”

A tireless anti-nuclear campaigner, I wonder if Mr. Whitehead will now continue to campaign against nuclear power and indeed vote against any enabling legislation ?