As the government moves towards its expected formal pronouncement next month in favour of resuming the building of new nuclear power reactors, Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats, yesterday stepped up his party's opposition to this move. This is predictable, and nothing like as important as which side of the nuclear fence the Tory party will eventually come down on. However, in spite of coming to the wrong conclusion, Sir Menzies raised the legitimate doubt of whether new reactors could be built "without massive state subsidies" or "rigging the market" to guarantee future prices.

The government made exactly the same point in a 2002 energy review when it said "nowhere in the world have new nuclear stations yet been financed within a liberalised electricity market". That is precisely why the whole nuclear industry is keenly watching the outcome in the UK for its implications elsewhere. If new reactors can be funded in the highly liberalised UK energy market, then they should face no problem in the more regulated parts of Europe or the US.