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7.57 pm
Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) on the good fortune of having been elected to the House as the Member for a constituency which, along with Ryedale, Richmond, Yorks, and Skipton and Ripon, has represented since 1 May a substantial buffer of blue surrounded by a sea of red, and which also happens to be one of the most gloriously beautiful parts of the British Isles.
There is no doubt that the issue raised by my hon. Friend has given rise to considerable anger for about five years, and I congratulate her on securing this debate. In the previous Parliament, I raised the matter on the Floor of the House on no fewer than three occasions: twice in the three-hour end-of-Session Adjournments and once on an Adjournment of the House.
I offer a hand of friendship and sympathy to the Minister. He deserves it, because he has inherited an extremely difficult situation. I am sure that he will tell us that the matter has sat on Ministers' and officials' desks at the Department of Trade and Industry for the best part of two years. It is a tribute to the resilience of those of us who have been fighting this for some time that we have managed to keep the ball in play and avoid a decision being taken in favour of the pylons. As the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead (Mr. Austin) pointed out, other people want a different decision because of the trade and jobs that will be associated with it. Such decisions always have that dimension.
Three points ought to be stressed, and they present the Minister with the solution to the dilemma that I acknowledge he faces. First, the basic reasons why the National Grid Company first applied for the power lines are no longer relevant. When the application was made, the people of North Yorkshire were told that the line was needed to meet the NGC's statutory obligation to connect a power station into the national grid, as the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead said. It did that, and, in the five years since the new power station at Bilton has been
operating, it has been taken into the grid, there has been no reduction in the power demand from the plant, and the grid has worked. There have been no difficulties. I will not explain the technical terms. Our advisers talk of trip-outs and so forth, which have not occurred. So the need for the line has never been demonstrated on the original terms, which were to connect the Bilton power plant.
Secondly, soon after the public inquiries into the matter were launched, the rabbit came out of the hat when it became clear that the NGC was about two separate things. First, it was seeking to strengthen the grid so that it could accommodate more power from more power stations built on the north-east coast.
Two such power stations were in the planning stage, but I think that I am right in saying that no application has ever arrived on the desk of a Minister in the Department of Trade and Industry or, formerly, the Department of Energy. One power station was to be called Flotilla and the other Neptune. Neither has progressed, for the simple reason that, while all this was going on, the Director General of Electricity Supply has rumbled the fact that we are spending so much money transmitting electricity around the country that there is a transmission loss and that it would be more effective and beneficial to consumers, whether domestic or industrial, if more power were generated closer to the market.
The Minister for Science, Energy and Industry (Mr. John Battle):
Build more power stations?
Mr. Greenway:
Yes, why not? If two more gas-fired power stations are to be built on the north-east coast to transmit electricity to the south of England, where the market is, why not transmit the gas and build the power stations in the south? That is a logical argument, and it would be more efficient to do so.
Secondly, there is excess capacity in Scotland, as has been mentioned, I think by the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead. Really this is about creating the opportunity for more electricity imports into England and Wales from Scotland. When that became apparent, one of the two privatised electricity generators, PowerGen, joined the campaign against the pylons, saying that there was not a level playing field. It said, by all means let there be competition in electricity supply, but that means that electricity can, equally, go into Scotland. On that basis, PowerGen said that the power lines were not necessary.
My third point shows the Minister how he can get out of this dilemma and give the people of North Yorkshire who will be affected by the power lines the opportunity of a fairer say than they have had already. From what the NGC told the original public inquiries, it is clear that they and the original inspector were misled on the key issue of transmission costs. The Minister has the correspondence in his file and on his desk. He knows that the NGC said that it would cost it more if it did not strengthen the grid than if it did, but, following the investigations into transmission costs undertaken by the director general, the reality is that, if it builds the power line, transmission costs will rise.
If the inspector's recommendation to go ahead, which led the former President of the Board of Trade my right hon. Friend the Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) to suggest that he was minded to accept the inquiry, was based on what
can only be described, and is described by people in North Yorkshire, as completely duff information, why should the inquiry not be reopened so that the proper facts can be established? What has the NGC got to fear from a fresh inquiry and a fresh opportunity to state its case? It has convinced no one in North Yorkshire that the power lines are needed. On occasion, it has even failed to convince itself.
My solution for the Minister is, please, give us the inquiry for which, as he knows, I have asked for the best part of 18 months in this and the previous Parliament, as has my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, whose constituency is greatly affected by the problem.
Finally, there is no doubt that the structure of the privatisation of the electricity industry has created some of the difficulties we are faced with, as it was bound to do. That made it difficult for former Ministers to grant the decision that we would have liked.
Ms Dari Taylor (Stockton, South):
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to speak tonight. I must also extend my thanks to the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) for allowing me to speak in her debate, for which I am grateful.
As this is my maiden speech, I will certainly pepper it with some eulogies about my constituency, but it is not merely the visual outlook of the people of Stockton, South that is harmed by pylons and overhead lines. Their gardens, streets and schools and the lives that people in so many parts of my constituency lead are, frankly, straddled by overhead lines. The visual impact of pylons when they start in one's garden is monstrous. It is not merely that I want to tell the hon. Lady that I do not want any part of the countryside in Great Britain and its beauty harmed or damaged. I am also speaking clearly for so many of my constituents who want those things removed from their gardens and homes.
This is my maiden speech and it is incumbent on me to say some warm words about a constituency that I love. The River Tees runs through it, some very green and pleasant lands are attached to it and it has many leafy suburbs. It has people with considerable grit and guts. People who fight and have had to fight because their industry has been destroyed--sometimes, because people thought that it was not making sufficient profit and, oftentimes, because people were not concerned to put in the investment that the industry deserved and the people certainly deserve.
My constituency has gone through awful changes. Many of my constituents are unemployed. In some parts, 50 per cent. of the residential area has no one in work. That is a sad statement for me to have to make. Many
children face not only existing but accumulated deprivation. I balance that by noting that, while my constituents have put up with, and continue to put up with, industrial turmoil and decline, they are still in there fighting. They would most like their environment to be cherished more and damaged less.
I pay tribute to my predecessor, Tim Devlin, who worked very hard for his party. He was a good constituency Member, as I intend to be. One of my predecessors, Harold Macmillan, was even more notable, although not necessarily more worthy, because he served as Prime Minister. I grew up during his era and, as a small child, sat in the House listening to him. I was spellbound by him and the others then in the House. My father was also a Member, representing Burnley. This is therefore a very special moment for me, because it brings back so many warm and cherished memories.
I am saddened to have to make my maiden speech when I am pleading for the people of constituency and their life styles, and asking the utilities to behave in a decent manner by burying the overhead lines and getting rid of the pylons. I know that one should not use the word "conflict" in a maiden speech, but there is one in this case. I question what the utilities have said about their ability to make profit. Inevitably, it is profit that has driven them to build pylons and overhead lines.
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Vale of York. As she stated, it is not only a question of the visual outlook. For many of my people in places such as Yarm and Eaglescliffe, it is a question of health. They believe that a health risk attaches to pylons and overhead lines. Some medical reports suggest that that could be the case. My constituents worry about bringing up their children in such an environment when they do not know whether there is a risk. We must press for better research.
I must point out to the hon. Member for Vale of York that, should the Lackenby to Picton line go ahead, pylons and overhead lines will be removed from a part of my constituency. Some of my constituents will receive a tangible benefit. They long for the lines to come down, because supply will increase and make those lines redundant. The fact that there will be a clear and immediate benefit for some, while for others the hideous pylons and overhead lines will remain, creates an awful dilemma for me. I should welcome more research and development, and clearer ideas about how to transmit power more effectively. I should like to believe that we can produce energy at the point of need, rather than transmitting it as we do.
I hope that this statement is accepted as being made with warmth and not in a spirit of conflict, but I wish that we had not had to wait 104 weeks for the report. It has clearly been with the Department of Trade and Industry for some time, and we should been given it earlier. We could have made clearer and more sensible statements to the electorate in the general election, rather than merely saying that we would fight to do what we could to support their needs. We could have spoken positively and clearly if the report had been made available earlier.
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