November 2015 – Plant Hire
It’s only natural that the construction industry should be excited by promises of new infrastructure projects – especially when they are as big as the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
But – for me, at least – the knowledge that the new plant will be built and operated by French state-owned EDF and financed by the Chinese government creates a feeling of unease. The Conservatives, having privatised the UK’s energy industry, are now handing big chunks of it over to foreign governments. Surely that wasn’t the original idea?
Cameron is courting China at a time when, economic growth having stalled, it is dumping cheap steel on world markets in order to shore up its market share. A direct consequence of this is the hundreds of jobs lost in the UK’s now-uncompetitive steel industry.
Given a free hand, China may give us more work and employment; but with the other hand, it can just as easily take jobs away.
David Taylor
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