Nuke Family Silver Sold Off To French

The government has finally sold off the nuclear silver to the French government after the deal was put on hold to stave of the embarrassment of an announcement at the same time as a huge hike in gas bills. Hiking up gas prices, reporting huge profits, then buying nuclear plants, just wouldn't look good. 

Now the nuclear power company, British Energy - one of the few part publicly-owned firms left to sell - has been sold to French firm, EDF, in a £12 billion deal with around £4 billion of that filling the coffers to prop up Brown's ailing economy.

In addition, British Gas owner Centrica, which also announced huge profits and an equally huge rise in gas bills, will take a 25% stake in all new nuclear plants built by EDF.

British Energy, which owns eight UK nuclear power stations, has been on the books for months.

French government-owned EDF, along with British Gas owner, Centrica, had been widely expected to announce it was buying British Energy in August. 

Then, shortly after announcing huge profits and a steep rise in gas bills, out of the blue, EDF put out a statement in the middle of the night, saying "conditions were not right" to proceed with the deal. 

Brown had hoped to tap into the Saudis £500 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund when he tried to sell it off to the Saudis on his visit in June. That deal didn't come off. Maybe selling out nuclear industry to the Middle East was just too politically sensitive. 

So instead it is set to be sold off to the French government-owned EDF - and a lot of groundwork has been done to make this possible. 

British Energy is the last business part-owned by the state which has 37% stake and by law required a UK boss. So the rules were changed so a foreign firm and boss can take it over. 

Then, there would be opposition and long planning delays in building and replacing nuclear power stations. The planning laws are due to be changed with an unelected and unaccountable quango brought in to push it through.

It's a victory too for the nuclear lobby and in particular Gordon Brown's brother Andrew Brown, who is Head of Corporate Communications at EDF Energy.

EDF, with an 87% French government stake, is already one of the big six energy suppliers in the UK, along with Centrica.

Regardless of a Centrica stake in the company, the deal is still likely to be controversial, particularly over whether EDF should be able to develop new power plants on existing British Energy sites. 

And there's also the vexed issue of whether the UK's nuclear power industry should be placed in the hands of a firm run by a French government company.

The government has finally sold off the last thing we owned, the family silver.

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Brown's Foot Is Off The Gas

The gas companies pathetic excuses for obscene price-hikes is exposed once again, in a damning indictment by the head of a new consumer watchdog. It's a rip-off in light-touch, soft-touch Britain.

Ed Mayo, head of a new National Consumer Council, tells us nothing new. Foreign-owned gas companies are raising prices in the UK to subsidise customers in other countries. 

Unlike in the rest of Europe, these global foreign-owned energy companies know they can milk the UK consumer for all they're worth, without fear of EU or government intervention. 

It was Blair and Brown's New Labour which created the 'open market' and allowed these global corporations to flourish and put profits before people, in the first place. 

The big six energy suppliers - EDF, NPower, British Gas, E.On. Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Energy - all have nice sounding, customer friendly names but they're owned by foreign companies and global investment banks. 

EDF by the French, RWE Power and E.on of Germany and Scottish Power by Iberdrola of Spain. 

Gas is traded by sharp operators on the international markets months in advance and stored in huge facilities on the continent. They know how to play the markets for big profits and the UK consumer is a soft-touch. 

They need to make huge profits for their directors and shareholders. They can't hike up prices back home in their in their own countries, so they make the UK consumer pay through the nose. 

MPs on watchdog committees and the industry watchdogs have warned about this before. And it has been highlighted here on a number of occasions. 

Selling off the gas and electricity industries was an idea of the Thatcher years.

But New Labour, Blair and Brown took it forward with so much enthusiasm and stealth and allowed these private UK companies to be sold off to foreign companies. 

We don't own the energy supply industry anymore - so the government keeps the whole thing at arms length and does nothing about it.

It's all part of a deeper malaise created by New Labour's 'light touch' and the spin and hype over a 'strong' economy. 

John Kampfer explores how the City was allowed to become the global capital of 'crooks and spivs' in today's Daily Telegraph. 

This light-touch has created a soft-touch Britain. This has left the fat cats in the City getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

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Nuke Plants Sell-Off Blow To Brown

The £12 billion deal to buy the UK's nuclear power stations has been called off for the time being, in a further blow to Brown's nuclear plans and efforts to raise cash for his struggling economy. The deal will be back on the cards when the time is right. 

French government-owned EDF, along with British Gas owner, Centrica, had been widely expected to announce it was buying British Energy, which owns nuclear reactors in the UK.

Then, out of the blue, EDF put out a statement in the middle of the night, saying "conditions were not right" to proceed with the deal. British Energy too wasn't happy with the offer.

Centrica sparked outrage when it raised gas prices by a staggering 35% and still managed to make £1b profit. EDF, of course, raised gas prices by 22% and was due to announce its half-yearly profits today. 

Hiking up gas prices, reporting huge profits, then buying nuclear plants with the cash, just wouldn't look good. 

The government has a 37% stake in British Energy and the nuclear power industry is one of the last things left for Brown to sell. 

The EDF deal would have made around £4 billion for government coffers and paved the way for Brown's big ideas on nuclear power.

The government had done all the groundwork to sell off British Energy - and even considered selling it to the Saudis.

Regardless of the bad timing, the EDF deal would have been controversial. Questions would have been asked whether the UK's nuclear power industry should be placed in the hands of a French government company. Better to bury the sale on a bad news day.

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Huge Gas Profit Sparks Gas Bill Fury

As households reeled from the biggest single increase in gas bills ever seen, British Gas owners, Centrica, today had the bare-faced cheek to announce a staggering £992m profit from its customers. But there were few words of comfort or hope from the government, for the beleaguered customer. 

Instead, New Labour ministers were more interested in plotting and posturing for position at the top of the Party's food chain.

Briish Gas owner, Centrica, is raising gas prices by a record 35% while its profits are a fat one billion pounds. This comes just days after rival EDF energy put up prices by a whoping 22%. 

Only this week, MPs on the energy select committee warned that the energy supply industry isn't competitive. And called for a rethink of the whole business. 

For all customers it will be a harsh winter. For those on low incomes, the fuel poverty trap will hit hard. 

The government is talking of pumping cash into some form of help. But no amount of cash will be enough and the government, can't afford it anyway. 

One answer is to impose a windfall tax on the obscene profits and plough that back into relief. But these are big, powerful and influential international companies in a cosy relationship with the government.

The suppliers use the Brown excuse and blame it on global oil prices. The truth is that, unlike in the rest of Europe, these global companies know they can milk the UK consumer for all they're worth, without fear of EU or government intervention.

British Gas is the customer-friendly trading name in England and Wales for the huge global Centrica corporation. EDF is owned by the French. Both use their huge profits to buy up energy companies world-wide.

EDF and Centrica were this week, set to announce a huge £12b deal to buy the UK nuclear power industry, British Energy, tightening their grip even further on the country's energy production and supply. 

The only answer is a windfall tax and government intervention to reign them in. But can this really happen? 

It was Blair and Brown's New Labour which created the open market and allowed these global corporations to flourish and put profits before people, in the first place. 

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