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UTILITY WEEK | 31ST MARCH - 6TH APRIL 2017 | 7 Interview B y rights, Ed Davey should be a relaxed man. Gone are the stresses and constant strains that came with being energy secretary at a crucial time in the UK's low-carbon transition. He is able to spend more time with his family, and enjoy a more lucrative career in the private sector. And yet, he is angry. Meeting Utility Week at a bar in central London, the former Liberal Democrat MP pulls no punches in slam- ming the Conservative government for ripping up the framework and policies he put in place during his tenure as secretary of state for three years from February 2012 to May 2015. As gamekeeper turned poacher, Davey is chairman of community energy company Mongoose Energy, as well as having fingers in other energy pies in consultancy roles. This means he is able to see at close quarters the demolition jobs the Tories are doing to his work. In what was meant to be a catch-up about the work he is doing now, and a commentary on the direction UK energy policy is now heading, he quickly explodes into a passionate condemnation of the government. Top of the agenda, as it is in parliament, is an unwavering attack on the seemingly hard-Brexit that the UK is careering towards. Within this, it is the "crass and stupid" move to leave the European nuclear energy community Euratom that causes Davey's blood to boil. Also high on his agenda are fears that his good cli- mate work will go to waste, and worry that the smart meter rollout will stall while attentions are elsewhere. Away from taking pot shots at those in his former office, Davey does take time to reflect on how govern- ment ran in his time, with the successes of renew- able energy and the failure of the Green Deal stand-out moments amid coalition arguments and disagreements. Starting with the present day, Davey opens to Utility Week with: "You look on in disbelief as the world goes on and does stupid things." Homing in on Brexit, he rants: "The government doesn't know what it is doing. There is no clear vision." Davey shows obvious disappointment as a member of the 48 per cent who voted to stay in the EU, but is also aware of the wider impact Brexit could, and already is, having. The government's decision to leave Euratom as part of its Brexit manoeuvres is labelled "extraordinarily stupid". "This has to be the most crass, stupid, ill thought through, shooting oneself in the foot aspect of the Brexit negotiations that I've seen," Davey scowls before point- edly adding "to date". Leaving Euratom jeopardises Britain's ability to not only import nuclear fuel, but also parts for Hinkley Point C, such as the Areva reactor, says Davey. "It's potty beyond potty." One answer to this threat would be to create a Euratom-like organisation – a so-called Britatom – which would then have to strike agreements with the EU, Japan, the USA, Australia and other nations. Such a process could take years and would offer no comfort to the beleaguered Hinkley Point C project, or the rest of the UK's French-owned nuclear genera- tion fleet, unless political support is forthcoming from France, but Davey warns "why would they?". "I'm not saying the lights will go out," he adds, before going on to rubbish his own statement with "but they could if they don't sort it out as 20 per cent of our elec- tricity comes from nukes and because of this we may not be able to get the fuel we need." However, that is not the biggest issue Davey has with the Euratom departure. That is reserved for the wider impact it will have on the UK's bargaining position dur- ing the Brexit talks. He says even "mad Brexiteers" would find the move irresponsible because it weakens the UK's hand, and a lot of political capital will have to be used to create a new agreement. Moving from criticisms of Brexit to reflections on his legacy, Davey turns to Hinkley Point C, the nuclear megaproject that loomed over his time in office. The £18 billion development has been castigated by many for being overpriced, and tying the UK into a future with huge, inflexible, centralised generation. Davey dismisses all of these and highlights that the agreement with the French energy company EDF removes any risk of delays or non-delivery, as well as ensuring decommissioning costs are paid for. Provided the reactor can be imported from France, subject to the prickly Euratom negotiations already identified, Davey remains happy with the deal in place – as long as it stays in place. As an aside to the Brexit/nuclear discussion, he states that with the pressure to be seen to be acting on energy prices, he is worried the government could look to change the Hinkley deal to bring down the headline price. Davey's angry tirade continues into the realms of energy efficiency. He warns that leaving the EU will mean the UK has no say in how these regulations are formed, although UK-manufactured products will have to con- form to them. With an ironic laugh, he adds: "We've taken back control! It's absolutely genius."