FORMER Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has said the Treasury will reject nuclear energy infrastructure projects needed to power technology.

Speaking on GB News, he said: “Getting down to the nuts and bolts of this, it’s a Treasury issue. I did both Miliband’s job and the Treasury briefly, but I know that actually you need money to invest in the SMRs [small modular nuclear reactors].

“Every time we discussed this, certainly when I was Energy Secretary, we thought, yeah, this was to be a great idea, but there was an obstacle in terms of the cost.

“And the Treasury will argue, well, this isn’t proven, so why should we commit billions to it? And I’m afraid that is the big obstacle that we have.

“I think ultimately we will have to change policy. But as long as there’s a block in terms of the expenditure, and we know what fiscal issues, it’ll be very difficult to get any money.

“Regulation is key. I mean, I remember talking about Hinkley where they had to spend about £100 million to make sure that the fish were protected…that was just one example.

“There was a lot of this sort of thing going around: over-regulation. We were worried about the environmental impact, which is fair.

“I’m afraid that does build up costs and it takes longer to do things.”