Greenpeace hijack Blair speech
2005-11-29 13:21
London - Prime Minister Tony Blair was forced to change venues for a crucial speech about nuclear power stations after Greenpeace activists disrupted proceedings.
Two men clambered high into the rafters of the hall in Islington, in north London, where Blair was to speak and unfurled a banner saying: "Nuclear: wrong answer."
Dressed in suits and ties, the pair wore high visibility vests and appeared to have security passes.
They used safety harnesses to attach themselves to the frame of the roof and sprinkled hundreds of yellow stickers bearing the same anti-nuclear slogan onto the delegates below.
Conference organisers said Greenpeace offered to end the protest in exchange for 10 minutes to speak before Blair - a request rejected by Digby Jones, director general of the Confederation of British Industry.
Security staff cleared the hall of delegates and Blair instead spoke in a cramped room where participants and the press were forced to stand.
Blair said climate change was a threat to the energy supply, and announced on Thursday that the British government may consider commissioning a new generation of nuclear power stations.
"The issue back on the agenda with a vengeance is energy policy," Blair said, giving his speech at a hastily erected podium. "Energy prices have risen. Energy supply is under threat. Climate change is producing a sense of urgency."
Nuclear power currently provides a fifth of Britain's electricity, but the nation's 12 nuclear power plants are aging and unless replaced will provide just four percent by 2010.
A government policy paper on energy resources that will be issued early the summer of 2006 will address the possibility of a new generation of nuclear power stations that could provide enough energy for the country, Blair said.
"In Britain, on any basis, we also have the issue of our transition from being self-sufficient in gas supply to being an importer," he said.
Activists worry that more nuclear power plants would hurt the environment.
- AP