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Mr. Gallie: Does the hon. Gentleman recall environmental arguments that the best way to use Scottish coal was sending the electricity by wire? The proposal would mean coal by wire to Northern Ireland. Will the hon. Gentleman also comment on North Yorkshire, because there seems to be a block on upgrading the interconnector there, which would also be of great value?

Mr. Home Robertson: I am aware of that. We have so much excellent generating capacity in Scotland, and it should be used. Any artificial blocks, whether in Yorkshire or through planning constraints in South Ayrshire, should be reconsidered urgently.

But that issue is not the only one threatening the future of Cockenzie power station. I urge the Minister to look hard at PowerGen's mischievous threat to construct a gas-fired power station at Gartcosh in Lanarkshire. There is manifestly no need for any more generating capacity in Scotland. We have more than enough already. The idea would create only 35 jobs in north Lanarkshire, so it would be a woefully inadequate use of the site at Gartcosh. As the Minister knows, all the Members of Parliament and local authorities in Lanarkshire have expressed their opposition to the plan.

I say that the ploy is mischievous because it seems to be a device contrived by PowerGen to destabilise Scottish Power in its home market. My concern is that the reporter at the inquiry is supposed only to consider purely local planning issues for the Gartcosh neighbourhood.

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I have a copy of the paper that has been put to the reporter, including a statement of matters that seem to the Secretary of State to be likely to be relevant to the reporter's consideration of the application, and it lists 12 criteria, all specifically local to the Gartcosh neighbourhood. I fear that those strict criteria for the inquiry could prevent him from taking into account effects elsewhere in Scotland, such as the threat to the economy of East Lothian and the likelihood that a loss-lead gas-fired station at Gartcosh could cause the premature closure of Cockenzie power station, with the loss of 240 jobs in my constituency, not to mention many more in the mining industry and in other parts of Scotland.

The Scottish Office is taking serious risks with my constituents' employment. I am grateful to the Minister for listening to my concerns today; I strongly urge him to give positive and unequivocal support to the principle of the Irish interconnector and to remove any unreasonable conditions that have been considered by the Secretary of State. I urge him also to resist the threat of an unwanted and entirely inappropriate gas-fired power station at Gartcosh.

1.45 pm

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. George Kynoch): I am grateful to the hon. Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) for raising this important issue. The energy industry is, of course, of fundamental economic importance, and I know that, with two power stations in his constituency and coal mining interests in the area, he takes a close interest in the subject. I am also glad to see the hon. Member for Midlothian (Mr. Clarke) in his place.

I will turn in a moment to the specific issues that the hon. Member has raised, but I would first like to remind the House of the basis of the Government's energy policy. The Government's aim is to ensure secure, diverse and sustainable supplies of energy in the forms that people and businesses want, at competitive prices.

Mr. Norman Hogg (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth): Can the Minister explain how Scottish Power, behaving in a predatory fashion, can take over Southern Water? How does that square with the objectives of Government energy policy? How do water and electricity mix?

Mr. Kynoch: I will not be diverted from the subject of the Adjournment debate today, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware of the competitive marketplace, and I will be touching on that issue later on.

We believe our aim can be best achieved through the free market, which is the most effective and efficient means for meeting our energy needs. It determines prices best and exposes costs to rigorous test. Competition gives businesses the strongest incentive to meet the needs of customers and empowers the purchasers of fuel and consumers of energy, enabling them to get the best possible deal.

As a result of our policy, consumers have enjoyed real benefits. Since the privatisation of Scottish Power and Hydro-Electric in 1991, electricity prices have fallen by about 8 per cent., with further reductions coming as a result of nuclear privatisation. With the introduction of full competition into the electricity supply industry in

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1998, I am sure consumers will benefit yet further from a greater freedom of choice, a greater range of suppliers and from lower prices.

Government should not attempt to impose all-embracing plans about how much energy and what kind should be produced or consumed by whom. Uncertainties about supply and demand, technology, and the behaviour of people and companies, doom such plans to failure.

The hon. Member for East Lothian raised a number of specific issues, and I will try to deal with them in turn in the short time available to me.

On the subject of the Scotland-Northern Ireland interconnector, I should begin by reminding the House that my right hon. Friend has not refused to give the go-ahead to the project. He has looked at the evidence that was presented to the inquiry, as it is proper that he should do, and he is minded to take a different view from the reporter of the weight to be attached to locally significant areas of landscape quality. The areas involved are the Water of Girvan; Nick of the Balloch; Duisk valley; and the Water of Tig and Dunnach Burn.

I repeat, my right hon. Friend has not refused Scottish Power's application. In fact, he has stated that he is minded to grant consent to it, subject to appropriate conditions but excluding the four sections I mentioned, where he is presently minded to conclude that undergrounding of the line is appropriate. Scottish Power and others have been asked to comment by 20 December. The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that there is little more that I can add about that aspect of the proposal at this stage.

My right hon. Friend will listen carefully to what Scottish Power and the other parties have to say, and will announce his decision in due course.

Mr. Home Robertson: Will the Minister give way?

Mr. Kynoch: I should like to conclude this section of my speech, and I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman afterwards if there is time.

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's concerns. Electricity generated from power stations in his constituency might well be exported through the interconnector. However, I must repeat that the Government cannot try to second-guess the market. Ultimately, a decision on whether the project goes ahead, assuming that all the necessary legal consents are given, will be a matter for the commercial judgment of the companies involved--Scottish Power and Northern Ireland Electricity.

Mr. Eric Clarke (Midlothian): Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Mr. Kynoch: Briefly, but very briefly, because time is limited.

Mr. Clarke: I thank the Minister for giving way, and I congratulate my hon. Friend on raising this issue. May I tell the Minister, who is obviously interested in electricity generation, that the base load is taken up by nuclear power. It is unfair and wrong to say that there is

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diversification if nuclear power takes the base load and other stations, especially coal-fired stations, take only peak-period load. That is what my hon. Friend the Member for East Lothian was saying. We cannot make the decision. Why have an inquiry for six months and a report, and then ignore it? Will the Government do the same with Gartcosh?

Mr. Kynoch: There seems to be a split in the Labour party about the interconnector. The hon. Member for East Lothian and the hon. Member for Midlothian (Mr. Clarke) are arguing one way, whereas the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes) is arguing the other. I wonder whether they could elucidate for the House what Labour party policy is on the subject--and what the hon. Member for Hamilton (Mr. Robertson) might say about it.

Mr. Home Robertson: Can the hon. Gentleman cite any precedent for a Secretary of State mucking about with the findings of a reporter at a public inquiry? If the right hon. Gentleman intends to change the ground rules in that way, is there anything to stop my constituents, or people elsewhere, asking for existing sections of the transmission system to be put underground, on exactly the same grounds as those being cited in South Ayrshire?

Mr. Kynoch: If the hon. Gentleman had listened to me earlier, he would have heard clearly what the Secretary of State says. I hope that he will agree that it is only proper for my right hon. Friend fully to consider all the arguments put before the public inquiry.

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Minister with responsibility for the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment has asked Northern Ireland Electricity to think again about the site of the converter station at Islandmagee. Clearly there are important issues at stake for people on both sides of the Irish sea.

I shall now talk about Gartcosh.

Mr. Gallie: Will my hon. Friend give way?

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