nuclear-news

Anas Sarwar silent as Scottish bill payers face UK ‘nuclear tax’

The National, 30th December 2025, By Jamie Calder

THE SNP have slammed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar for his silence on Westminster’s “nuclear tax”, which could see Scottish households paying out a total of £300 million over the next decade to fund nuclear projects in England.

The new levy has been introduced to fund the spiralling costs of the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, which is now predicted to cost £38 billion, almost doubling the previous prediction of £20bn.

Ed Miliband has also faced criticism for asking GB Energy staff to look at opportunities to develop Scottish nuclear energy, going against the policy of the Scottish Government.

The SNP have opposed the creation of new nuclear plants and are able to use planning policy to block developments, despite energy policy being largely reserved to Westminster.

The Scottish Government instead wishes to focus on renewable developments, with Scotland’s last nuclear plant, Torness, set to be decommissioned in 2030.

The party has criticised Labour for making Scots pay for a Westminster nuclear project in the south of England, instead arguing that investment from Scottish taxpayers should be targeting renewables like wind and hydro power based in Scotland, avoiding “extortionate” nuclear plants.

Anas Sarwar has also been questioned over why he has refused to fight the tax which will see Scots foot the bill for the Westminster project.

Writing to Sarwar, SNP MP Graham Leadbitter said: “A recent report found the UK is the most expensive place in the world to develop nuclear power and these massive overspends mean that Scottish taxpayers will pick up a £300m tab for the projects through a decade long ‘Nuclear Tax’.

“Meanwhile, we learned Ed Miliband has assigned GB Energy staff to work on exposing Scotland to these horrific risks. Quite frankly nobody knows what GB Energy is meant to be, but we at least understood it was created to drive forward renewables jobs in Scotland – not blasted on extortionate nuclear power plants.

“These toxic white elephants are irrelevant to Scotland where we produce far more electricity than we can hope to use and where our future is in renewables, closer ties with Europe and harnessing the existing offshore industry to deliver energy security – it certainly is not in over budget, wasteful English nuclear energy projects.

“Your support for these projects in Scotland would see us exposed to colossal financial risk and undermine our renewables future while there are serious questions as to why you support the ‘Nuclear Tax’ currently being imposed on Scottish bill payers…………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.thenational.scot/news/25728226.snp-slam-scottish-labours-anas-sarwar-nuclear-tax-acceptance/

January 2, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK