The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has proudly unveiled its board of commissioners for the “2030 Clean Power Mission.” Cue a long list of people with decades of experience “fighting climate change” in wind energy, technology, reducing emissions and preserving wildlife…

Given the song and dance Labour made about building nuclear power plants in their manifesto – literally under the section “Clean Power by 2030” – you’d think they’d at least have someone who knows a thing or two about nuclear energy on the board. Not so. In fact one of the board members, Juliet Davenport, even founded an energy service company that set out why it “doesn’t want nuclear power in the UK”  because it’s a “bad match for renewables” and “benefits the few, not the many”. Davenport was still CEO when that article was published… 

Committed socialist Starmer has spent the morning suggesting that Lammy and Rayner’s forceful opposition to nuclear deterrence doesn’t matter, because he believes in it and he “leads the party from the front“. His newfound “dedication” to nuclear weapons might ring a little hollow considering his longstanding position in a group promoting total nuclear disarmament…

Starmer joined the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers as secretary in late 1988 – he stayed in post for a full twenty years and only left to take up the DPP job. In autumn of 1989, the society issued some robust resolutions in issue No 9 of the Socialist Lawyer publication. In response to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty the group demanded that Britain and “other capitalist countries follow suit by abandoning weapons and strategies of genocide; and urges the Labour Party to adopt a non-nuclear, non-aligned defence policy as the precondition for the preservation and extension of human rights, and the key to victory at the next General Election.” Unilateral disarmament – Jezza must be proud of his successor…

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps tells Guido in response: “Everyone knows Keir Starmer flip flops on all his views, but the fact he can’t be relied on to stand by the UK’s nuclear deterrent and our essential NATO alliance is dangerous for Britain and its allies. This is the man who twice wanted Jeremy Corbyn to be PM. But his lack of credence on defence goes back much further as these revelations show.” What else is socialist Starmer committed to imposing on this “capitalist country”?

Starmer is bigging up Labour’s defence credentials this morning by giving a speech in Manchester surrounded by veteran PPCs, including touting Labour’s plan to build “four nuclear submarines”. Which turn out to be the ones the government has already committed to…

When asked, yet again, by GB News’ Chris Hope if he would push the big red button he finally conceded and said he would go for it: “It’s a vital part of our defence and of course that means, uh, we have to be prepared to use it.” In December he refused to go that far…

Starmer was asked if David Lammy and Angela Rayner, who voted against Trident’s renewal, had changed their minds. He refused say and claimed instead: “I lead this party I’ve changed this party if we’re privileged to come in to serve I will be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom“. So just ignore the views of the Deputy PM and Foreign Secretary then…

Guido isn’t sure if Lammy’s strong faith-based views on deterrence have changed. He wrote in Christian News in 2016:

“The idea of loving thy neighbour and protecting our world for future generations simply cannot hold if we have stockpiles of weapons that will destroy our neighbours and destroy our world for future generations.

Not only do nuclear weapons contradict religious principles, any form of international relations based on the threat of mutual destruction is totally contradictory to the preamble of Article 1 of the United Nations Charter.”

How much time will it take for Rayner and Lammy going to beat Starmer’s newfound nuclear enthusiasm out of him? It didn’t take her long to get him to U-turn on Abbott…

As we go to pixel Britain is reliant on electric energy to keep us from the chill and currently 45% of that energy is coming from gas, wind is supplying 32%, nuclear 5% and other sources are at the single digit percentage level. One of those sources being the last coal power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, contributing some 3.4% to the nation’s electricity production, marking its busiest week of the year. Britain’s last coal station is scheduled to shut-down in September. Next winter there will be no coal power to fall back on…

This sacrifice by Britain – which has plenty of coal reserves – will make no real difference to global carbon emissions. In fact global power generation hit new highs in 2023. Coal-fired electricity generation increased last year in China, India, the Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam. Greta needs to go East.

If the wind were to be calmed today Britain would simply not have enough energy to meet demand. This will inevitably happen at some point. Building small nuclear reactors to replace coal-powered base demand should be an urgent priority – much more important than building migrant hotels in Rwanda for example. The inability of Britain to get on with industrial and infrastructure projects is pathetic. For example – and not entirely unrelated – Britain will soon be one of the few major advanced industrial economies without a large scale modern electric battery production sector. The demand is there, what is holding Britain back from getting on with building supply?

Guido was flicking through the government’s civil service job listings this afternoon and noticed a new job advert for a “Nuclear Emergency Response Manager – Navy Command” at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, “home to the United Kingdom’s Strategic Nuclear Deterrent“. The MoD wants someone to help deliver “a Nuclear Emergency Response capability” by providing “training to the Nuclear Emergency Response Organisation“. Their hire will “ensure all nuclear emergency response facilities and support equipment on the Faslane site are managed and maintained at a constant state of readiness” and maintain “the currency of documentation supporting Nuclear Emergency Response Arrangements“. In other words – an important cog in averting global nuclear Armageddon…

The modest salary of £35,290 is dwarfed by other taxpayer-funded positions which Guido ventures are less vital to the public’s welfare. TfL for example is right now hiring a “diversity and inclusion lead” for £80,000 to “champion initiatives that support the D&I agenda“, while the NHS has hired diversity and inclusion managers on salaries of up to £108,000. Guido will resist a “Dr. Strangelove” pun…

Keir Starmer has not ruled out launching nuclear weapons to protect the UK if he becomes Prime Minister next year. Speaking to GB News, Sir Softie spelt out his hard line on deterrence, also saying that he would consider setting up offshore processing centres to deal with the surge in small boat crossings. The Corbynites will be seething…