AN INTEGRATED POLICY

Britain has never had an integrated energy policy. As a result, our economy has never been able to plan energy supply and, more important, plan the cost of such a policy.

The situation has become worse during the past 26 years, particularly as a result of the attack on Britain's deep mine coal industry. Our indigenous energy resources are now badly abused whilst we have to rely increasingly on coal imports, oil imports, opencast mining and gas for the generation of electricity, despite the fact that Britain's gas supplies will exhaust within 10 years.

Economic commonsense plays no part in Britain's energy programme. Following the destruction of the coal industry, gas and oil priced have rocketed and the price of oil on the world market is at an all-time high. Without a sensible integrated energy policy - based on indigenous clean coal technology, Britain's economy will fact a major crisis sooner rather than later.

The price for deadly nuclear power is astronomic - at least 450% more expensive than coal, 350% more expensive than gas, and over 200% more expensive than oil.

Commonsense would see dangerous, unnecessary nuclear power phased out as it has been in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and other countries throughout the world.

Britain needs a long term integrated energy policy based on a deep mine coal industry which is publicly owned and controlled but at the same time our country needs to develop all forms of renewable energy such as wind, wave, tide, geothermal and solar power.

An energy policy of this kind would result in the employment of 100,000 people, and our balance of payments would be at least £3 billion per year better off as a direct result of Britain no longer buying subsidised coal from abroad.

DEVELOPING FUTURE ENERGY

The Socialist Labour Party would reduce our nation's dependence on imported oil and gas and would reopen at least 30 pits which were closed in 1992/93. We would also develop 30 new mines, many of them in areas which have suffered vicious deprivation as a result of the pit closure programme.

The Socialist Labour Party's energy policy is not only cost effective but a policy which would provide cheaper energy for the consumer. Our proposals would actually reduce energy costs, not increase them.

Such an integrated energy policy would cost £50 billion over a 10-year period. This would include the cost of new technology for power stations and moving away from nuclear power to an indigenous deep mine, clean coal-based, integrated energy policy - a policy which would involve taking the mining industry back into public ownership, the opening or re-opening of 60 coal mines and developing renewable energies.

The cost of developing a properly integrated energy policy would be £50 billion or £5 billion per year over a 10 year period. This money could easily be raised if Britain scrapped its dangerous and highly expensive nuclear power industry.