Labor Lobby Spending on Nukes Revealed

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As the Center for Media and Democracy noted previously, British government funds were used "to campaign in favour of Tony Blair's new nuclear power programme." Scotland's Sunday Herald reports on the more than £15,000 spent on "Nuklear21," a "campaign group that brings together workers from five trade unions at nuclear plants across the UK to lobby for new reactors." The money covered "airfares, hotels, dinners and 'refreshments'" for union members to lobby ministers, members of parliament and trade union leaders. The labor lobbyists say they are "defending our jobs, our livelihoods and our communities." However, one union leader criticized the lobbyists for compromising their independence by "get[ting] into bed with the employer." A Greenpeace anti-nuclear campaigner commented, "They have a right to fight for their jobs, but they are using illegitimate means -- taxpayers' money."