If you no likee, you fuck offee!

If there was ever any doubt as to the wisdom of St. Theresa's decision to delay and think hard on whether we should accept zillions from the Chinese to build a French nuclear plant then the Chinese ambassador to London just settled it.  Apparently, he has written to The Times (I think) saying, in effect, if you don't accept this kind and generous loan then "there may be troubles ahead"!  My immediate response was to mutter, "Bring it on" but then I thought twice (hard work for me these days!) and instead I am deeply grateful.  Now we can see at first hand the iron fist inside this velvet Chinese glove and the thought of that ghastly country and the gangsters who run it having a knife to our throat by access to the computer systems that run our energy systems is frightening.  Only those two dim, posh boys would have fallen for it but now, thanks to all you brave Brexiteers, they are history, or to be precise, historical footnotes.

(Just a note to say that the 'Memsahib' and I are on an outing today so I apologise for not being able to join the conversation in the comments to the posts below.)

 

Comments

[Mayfly]

I think you'll find that THERE may be troubles ahead....Or is this a play on words with the Chinese possessing Theresa May?....

[David Duff]

Thank you, Miss Mayfly, but it was typed early this morning, or at least, early for me!

[backofanenvelope]

I feel it is time for another one of those referendum thingies. Do we want the French government, backed by the Chinese to build a gigantic nuclear power station in this country?

[Mayfly]

Is it better than an Russian Government, backed by the Americans?

Or the French, backed by the English?

This is fun, I could so this all day.

Regrettably, we will need to build something, whilst also creating jobs. Whilst having a small thermo nuclear bomb on my doorstop fills me with dread, people have been pussy footing around the fact that renewable sources of energy will run out. Interestingly, the English chappie who made such a break through with Hydrogen power has....disappeared....In the meantime, I am open to suggestions....

[backofanenvelope]

OK. Build a gas powered power station on each nuclear site. Buy the gas from wherever. Finance the construction by issuing bonds. 1% tax free would be better than I am getting at the moment. For the longer term, give Rolls Royce a contract to build small nuclear plants based on its submarine engines. You could have dozens, built here; which would give you distributed risk.

Written on the back of my envelope.

[Mayfly]

Note to self : don't type a comment whilst talking to your boss. It's not likely to make much sense.

We can't invest in stuff which will require other stuff which will run out. If we ransom ourselves to whomsoever will have gas in the future, we will watch the consumption and the price go up too much. Better to spend the time now looking at lagoons and fast moving hamsters. We could of course go the route of "Black Mirror" and pay the poor to manually create power so that the rich live in comfort.

Interesting, BoE, but perhaps we could look at nuclear stations ON the submarines. Any which way we go, the power stations are potential threats, either from leaking, falling apart or terrorist attacks. Not that I have a real problem with nuclear stations, I think they are at least one viable option. It would be nice to think of an alternative, that's all.

[backofanenvelope]

I like the idea of the poor manually creating power. Treadmills I suppose. We could site them in places like Bradford. The threats you mention are applicable to all types of power stations.

By building gas stations on the nuke sites, they would plug into the existing distribution network and if the gas came from overseas, we would just need some convenient jetties. Built like the Mulberries in 1944. The gas powered stations would be the short term solution, the RR nukes a longer term one.

Of course, I only have a DL envelope.

[Loz]

"You fuck offee"

Is there no-one the Bexiteers won't tell to "fuck offee"? Billy-No-Mates Britain beckons.

And everyone's an energy expert all of a sudden - like they were all car manufacturing, transport, energy, telecoms, steel manufacturing, health, education, experts in 1975.

Back to the future.

SoD

[TheBigHenry]

Miss Mayfly,

"Whilst having a small thermo nuclear [sic] bomb on my doorstop [sic] fills me with dread, ... ."

While the thought of a thermonuclear bomb (even a tiny one) on one's doorstep should fill anyone with dread, such a scenario can be safely ignored. Thermonuclear devices are based on nuclear fusion and are currently only engineered for existential warfare.

[jimmy glesga]

Looks like new alliances are being negotiated although Scotland seems to be North of the alliances.

[Mayfly]

Yes, TheBigHenry (*sigh*) I was speaking with my tongue firmly in my cheek, and it is my fate that after berating David for his misspelling, I should produce a message which was deviating from English in the extreme. I am thankful that at least BoE managed to accept it in the humour in which it was written....

BoE, the thought behind 'a terrorist attack' on this particular power station was that it appears to be in the control of another country. It seemed a bit of a Trojan Horse, either from threatening to shut it down or to blow it up. It seems a good premise for an action movie starring Jason Bourne, but perhaps in the political climate, that might not go down so well....

I wish everyone were an energy expert, SoD, we might actually have some solutions then.

[Mayfly]

BTW, David, any chance of an edit button? :-)

[backofanenvelope]

Well, I'm not an energy expert. But Mr Duff is open to non-expert opinions - otherwise he would have binned Loz by now!

[TheBigHenry]

Gosh, Miss Mayfly, I am getting vibes of sarcasm from your remarks.

It is precisely the false association between thermonuclear weapons and reactor power generation that stimulates hysterical opposition to utilizing a very clean alternative source of electric power.

I'll be careful not to ruffle your delicate sensibilities in the future.