Nick Clegg says a definite NO to Oldbury!!

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg would scrap planned nuclear power station near Bristol


Nick CleggLIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg says his party would scrap a planned nuclear power station near Bristol and guarantee an electrified rail link to London.

But Mr Clegg tried to reassure Rolls-Royce staff that the party's plans to scrap part of the Eurofighter project will not affect work under way at the company's Patchway plant.

The Lib Dems have already committed themselves to scrapping the troubled A400M military transporter aircraft, which employs 1,000 people in Filton and Patchway, and 400 jobs at Rolls-Royce depend on the Eurofighter.

Setting out his priorities, which include changing the income tax system and reforming school funding, Mr Clegg told voters: "If you don't like them, don't vote for them."

He said that halting the next generation of nuclear power plants, which includes a new reactor planned for Oldbury, would allow any public money indirectly spent on them to be directed towards creating 100,000 jobs in green industries.

Mr Clegg insisted that, while all three major parties have said they support electrification plans for trains between Bristol and Paddington, his party was the only one to have costed them in its manifesto. He said: "We are massive promoters of electrification but crucially we have got the plans in our manifesto of how to pay for it.

"We have set out the savings and cuts in government spending, we set out our plans for a new infrastructure bank that would be able to invest in new high speed rail and of course electrification of existing rail lines."

The Lib Dems announced in September 2009 that they would scrap orders for Airbus's A400M military transporter aircraft, which employs 900 Airbus and GKN workers at Filton and a further 100 Rolls-Royce staff at Patchway, as part of defence cuts, which also include scrapping the replacement for the Trident nuclear missile system.

The party is committed to scrapping later tranches of the Eurofighter Typhoon jet, branded a "cold war" aircraft, but Mr Clegg was keen to point out to Rolls-Royce workers in Patchway, where about 400 people are employed building the engines, that current phases are not under threat.

He said: "We are not in any way calling into question the Typhoon project as it is now, what we are saying is the future work on the 3B tranche, which hasn't even started, we cannot justify the billions and billions that would go into it.

"I strongly suspect whatever government comes in to power after Thursday will recognise that we can't justify that expenditure."

Mr Clegg praised Bristol City Council for leading the way as a "green city". He said: "Bristol has been recognised as one of the greenest cities in Britain and that is not least due to the fantastic achievements of the local council in boosting recycling, promoting public transport and ensuring Bristol leads the way in the green future we all want.

"We need a new approach to our economy where we actually get banks lending money – and that is really more important than almost anything else for jobs in Bristol.

"That's my direct appeal to people in Bristol. Don't be scared into voting differently because that's what Gordon Brown and David Cameron want you to do to keep things the way they are. Vote with your heart, vote with your instinct."

Conservative leader David Cameron was set to visit Bristol today.