Newhaven: Blair refuses to rule out incineration

PRIME Minister Tony Blair refused to rule-out an incinerator for Newhaven when quizzed by the town s MP Norman Baker.

Speaking at Prime Minister s question time Mr Baker asked: 'Why did the Prime Minister tell the House in the previous Parliament that incineration was an essential part of waste strategy?

'Is he not aware that other countries recycle more than fifty per cent of their waste, compared with the pathetic eight percent that we manage in this country?

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'Will the Right Honourable Gentlemen rule out incineration and thereby remove the toxic cloud that hangs over Newhaven in my constituency?

'Will he also undertake not to fiddle the public inquiry system to drive through incineration?'

The Prime Minister replied: It is true that we need to increase the amount of recycling, and we are doing that. However, pulling out of all incineration, as the Honourable Gentlemen suggests, would cost a great deal of money. That can be done over time, but we face many demands.

Indeed, almost every question that I am asked is a demand for money. We have to balance those competing claims. We shall make progress as we can, but if we peremptorily pulled out of incineration altogether, we would have a financial shortfall that we could not cover, and there would be nothing that we could do with the resulting waste.

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Mr Baker said, afterards: 'The only rubbish the Prime Minister wants to recycle are his answers on incineration. His justification for their use is completely unacceptable, it is quite simply putting money before the environment and public health, and I will continue to challenge the government on this issue.

Published: 13.7.01 Sussex Newspapers Ltd