THE REVIEW GETS AN EXCLUSIVE ONE ON ONE INTERVIEW WITH THE TORY LEADER ON HIS VISIT TO SPEECH HOUSE...
Review: Under the last Tory administration there was a very real threat to privatise Forestry Commission land. Would that threat re-emerge if you were elected?
Hague: "That's not on the agenda at the moment. I think people can relax about that, really."
Review: There are forecasts of power shortages in the future, particularly with shortages of fossil fuel and the inadvisability of using it. There are also fears of cancer clusters associated with Oldbury power station. Do you see a future for Severn Estuary nuclear plants, and is there a case for a Severn barrage?
Hague: "Ah – well, two separate questions! We would like to encourage renewable energy sources and we would like to see that much more strongly developed than is taking place at the moment. Actually, we've lost the momentum on developing renewable energy sources.
That doesn't mean that we are immediately going to phase out nuclear power, because a huge amount of research needs to take place, but certainly a Conservative government will encourage that and will help to fund a lot of the necessary work.
Should there be a Severn Barrage? Well, I'm quite sceptical about this. I think local people should have the key say in these things. I am sceptical of such projects because of the effect on wildlife, river life – it has an effect right the way back up there. When I was Secretary of State for Wales I had to decide whether there should be a barrage at Newport on the River Usk, and I ruled against it. It was quite controversial, but for the sake of the river all the way back up and the fish-life, wildlife in general, I was against the barrage. I think local people should have a big say."
Review: The need for gravel and aggregates is growing and there is a big demand for Forest stone under the Minerals Local Plan – a hugely contentious planning issue. If elected, how will your government balance this exploitation with the area's vitally important tourist industry?
Hague: "Well, as you say, it's a local tourism industry and the matter should be for local decision-making. At the moment the Government has national targets for quarrying, and the local plan has to fit in with the government's national plan. Now I will abolish all these national plans, so local authorities and local people will be able to decide for themselves whether there should be quarrying and how that balances with the tourism industry. It should not be for somebody sitting in Whitehall to do that, who has probably never been to the Forest of Dean, and to say you have to provide a certain amount of extra materials. And then each area can decide for itself, and some will decide that on economic grounds quarrying activity would provide local employment, other areas would decide no, we don't want so much quarrying, we want to place a greater value on the tourist industry. But let's have local people make plans for it.
Review: When you say 'local' do you mean at county level or regional level?
Hague: "I'm really talking about the county – I don't have a great faith in regional decision making. I think regional government can easily be another burden for people – and national government!"