What’s behind Keir Starmer’s decision to back nuclear power?

Does the UK need nuclear to keep the lights on? What has big tech got to do with it? And do the costs stack up?

Keir Starmer has committed the UK to its first significant stake in a new nuclear power plant since the 1980s.

The decision to invest almost £18bn of taxpayer money into the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk was welcomed by Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, as the beginning of a “golden age” of nuclear investment that would be critical to the government’s net zero goals.

The government said on Tuesday it would commit £14.2bn to the project, including the £2.7bn it earmarked for Sizewell C in the autumn budget. It has already committed £3.6bn to Sizewell over the past two years.

Britain’s nuclear renaissance will also include spending about £2.5bn of taxpayer money building some of Europe’s first small modular reactors (SMR), after the government gave the green light to plans for Rolls-Royce to build three in the UK by the early 2030s.