Council’s withdrawal from nuclear free group ‘based on lies’

Martin Shipton

“Outrageous and false statements” were made to justify the decision to withdraw Labour-run Caerphilly council from membership of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities group, it has been claimed.

The accusation was made by Richard Outram, Secretary of the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), in an email to opposition Plaid Cymru councillors in Caerphilly.

Councillor Colin Mann, co-deputy leader of the Plaid Cymru group, said the letter from Mr Outram contradicts “the fairy stories we heard on the night”.

During the debate which led to a vote to withdraw from the NFLA, council leader Jamie Pritchard claimed the body ‘doesn’t meet or doesn’t meet regularly’ .

But in his email Mr Outram rejects claims that the NFLA rarely met, listing full details of meetings. He also states that media releases, newsletters and briefings were sent to the council’s representative Cllr Christine Forehead generally weekly until her recent death.

“Given that these facts completely contradict the false claims made, I anticipate early contact to seek redress between the NFLA Secretariat / Manchester City Council and the administration of Caerphilly council at the highest level. I shall also explore my own remedies given my honour and integrity as an officer has been besmirched. I shall say no more,” added Mr Outram.

In an email to Mr Outram, Cllr Mann said: “This confirms what I suspected all along, that the proposal was founded on a false premise. The report which was presented to us was very shallow to say the least. I couldn’t believe that such a poor report was presented to attempt to justify a very important decision.

“As one of the people who voted to support the NFLA in the first place I was ashamed that Caerphilly County Borough Council was taking such a decision on such a poor report.

“I didn’t particularly believe much of what was said by the proponents of this move but did not have the evidence to refute the nonsense at the time.

“Thanks again for laying out the actual facts surrounding this issue, totally contradicting the fairy stories we heard on the night.”

Reviewed

Cllr Charlotte Bishop, leader of the Plaid Cymru group, said: “The decision to withdraw from the NFLA needs to be reviewed in light of the new and detailed information brought forward.”

Cllr Greg Ead added: “The detailed facts set out by the NFLA make clear that key claims made by the administration during the debate, were simply untrue and inaccurate. While disappointing, this is unfortunately not surprising.

“This is far from the first time this administration has ignored facts in favour of local opinion or fantasy. Our residents deserve better than decisions built on fiction and I call on the leader to issue an apology on behalf of his cabinet to the NFLA for the inaccurate claims made in the debate.”

In his email to the Plaid group, Mr Outram also raised the issue of future nuclear developments in Wales, stating: : “It is interesting that, although Cllr Forehead was unable to attend recent meetings, I did speak with her in November of last year at some length on the telephone about her concerns that Aberthaw would become a nuclear power plant site. The report brought before you suggested to me that the Administration expects to see this happen. Forewarned is forearmed.

“Wales already faces several new nuclear power threats. At Wylfa, Ynys Mon, the UK Government intends to locate the first three (and possibly up to eight) so-called ‘Small’ Modular Reactors from Rolls Royce whilst US company Last Energy is intent upon building a micro reactor plant near Bridgend. There is also talk of a large gigawatt plant at Wylfa and an SMR at Trawsfynydd at the heart of the Eryri National Park.

“The UK Government has also brought forward a new nuclear siting policy, called EN-7, which provides far greater latitude to developers to seek their own sites rather than these being pre-determined through a government led national strategy. Furthermore the government’s Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce has recommended deregulating the industry which nuclear campaigners will compromise public safety and the environment.

“Given these threats, I am working upon revitalising an online national network of elected members (of all parties), local authorities, activists and campaign groups to enable those in an interest in nuclear issues and a desire to see a Wales that is nuclear free and powered by renewables receive timely information and updates on campaigns. This will be under the banner of the Welsh Anti-Nuclear Alliance.”

Respond

A Caerphilly council spokesperson said: “We are considering the points raised in the letter from the NFLA and we will respond in due course. Unfortunately, our appointed representative on the steering committee, Cllr Christine Forehead, passed away recently so this is obviously a sensitive time for all concerned.

“On December 1 we asked the NFLA to respect the sensitivities, while we gather more information. They have chosen not to do so, which is disappointing.”

Cllr Forehead died on November 18.