Be wary over who owns Hinkley Point C and North Sea oil.

Overseas investment from China and France, and anywhere else for that matter, is obviously very welcome, but should foreign state-owned companies be allowed ownership of England's crucial energy supplies or, indeed, any vital infrastructure assets?

This letter was published in the Western Daily Press on September 6th.

Be wary of who owns Hinkley C.

The proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to be designed, built and financed by the French and Chinese is presently under Government review. 

Presumably the review will examine whether the plant’s new design is indeed buildable, affordable and secure - it may or may not go ahead. 

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that a Chinese state-owned company is now the biggest crude oil operator in the North Sea. 

In its decision-making processes the Government should take careful heed of the implications of allowing such key energy supplies, vital to our economic well-being, to be in the hands of foreign state-owned companies. 

Faced with a similar situation the Australian Government has acted decisively and refused to allow a Chinese company to take over the country’s biggest energy grid because of security concerns.  The Australian Treasurer said selling the grid to foreign investors would be against the national interest.  Theresa May, Philip Hammond and Boris Johnson should seek the advice of their Australian counterparts.

S.W., English Democrats Somerset.

The English Democrats Party manifesto makes interesting reading on these matters:

"3.4. Economic Independence.

3.4.1 Appropriate encouragement and targeted support should be given to ensure that certain strategic resources are produced in England. Complete self-sufficiency is impossible but we should ensure that we are not placed in a position where we are unable to defend our vital interests because we lack control of the necessary strategic resources.
3.4.2 Our economy and currency should be managed, as far as possible, by our own government. States may be less independent than they once were but we should resist those who would leave our economic well-being in the hands of global corporations and institutions. We should retain what independence and control we have and strive to gain more."