Press Release – no embargo
02.01.25
TOGETHER AGAINST SIZEWELL C APPLAUDS AND SUPPORTS THE STOP SIZEWELL C AND DALE VINCE INITIATIVES FOR SIZEWELL C SCRUTINY AND DEMANDS LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY AS EDF SYSTEMATICALLY DISMANTLES THE EAST SUFFOLK ENVIRONMENT
Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) campaigners welcomed the call for fiscal scrutiny of the Sizewell C project initiated by Dale Vince¹ and the petitioning of David Goldstone, Independent Chair of the Treasury’s new Office of Value for Money, by Stop Sizewell C². TASC Chairperson Jenny Kirtley added in a statement today, ‘What government must appreciate is that, apart from a blatant and cavalier misuse of public money, Sizewell C Ltd, which is 80% owned by the UK government and 20% by EDF, is guilty of refusing to enter into anything that could be called a meaningful dialogue with those residents on the front line of this attack on East Suffolk’s vulnerable environment.
‘Such forums as Sizewell C Ltd has agreed to are infrequent and exclude ordinary residents from speaking. Even our elected representatives are restricted to two questions which must be submitted before the meeting takes place. It’s an exercise in how to impose the will of a company on a vulnerable community which is actually paying, through its taxes, for Sizewell C Ltd to bully the local population while refusing to open up its operation to even the most basic of scrutiny. It is shameful that a Labour government should allow such unaccountability when its leader has spoken so passionately in the recent past about the ‘duty of candour’ in politics.
‘There is a complete absence of transparency and scrutiny as to what these billions of pounds of our money are being used for. As far as local people are concerned, many of whom are suffering from the economic squeeze this government has imposed on them, no-one, not government at any level, can say with any certainty that Sizewell C and the development work which is trashing their area, much of it in a National Landscape -Suffolk’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – represents value for money.
‘People are suffering noise, air and light pollution, disruption, an invasion of a1,000 workers but most importantly a black-out of information on a daily basis. This leaves them with uncertainty and fear about their livelihoods and their futures, particularly the many who are dependent on the tourist trade which is reliant on East Suffolk’s peace, tranquillity and wildlife interest. These actions and the lack of support from government at any level result in a situation which is tantamount to an assault on our human rights.’
Notes for editors:-
1. 1. Guardian article of 28th December 2024 reporting Dale Vince’s comments – https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/28/labour-donor-dale-vince-urges-rigorous-financial-scrutiny-of-sizewell-c-costs
2. 2. Link to the Stop Sizewell C petition – https://action.stopsizewellc.org/valueformoney
