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Wednesday 29th April saw the Rockware Rugby League Ground at Knottingley stage a match in memory of Don Cook who was tragically killed in an underground accident at Kellingley Colliery.in September last year. The match was originally arranged between the lads from the pit and Featherstone Rovers but unfortunately Featherstone were unable to play due to no accredited Doctor approved by the Rugby League being available on the night. However the match still went ahead and despite the late withdrawal the spectators turned out in force to witness a spirited match, fiercely contested with plenty to entertain the crowd.
Special thanks for the coaching skills and availability of Dave Scott and Gary Ward who organised the two teams on the night.The match officials from Leeds Carnegie who included Don`s son Andrew kept a good grip on the game and were responsible for allowing the game to flow despite the "odd knock-on"!! The "after match" social evening was a memorable event including an auction of Rugby Memorabilia superbly compered by the versatile Gary Ward (who would equally be at home in "Christies" should he decide to take up alternative employment!!) thanks also go to the Kellingley/Knottingley Social Club Committee for being such good hosts and special praise for Karen and her staff for the excellent buffet provided courtesy of Raleys Solicitors.
A well supported raffle that supplemented the auction which altogether realised approximately £3,500. Don`s wife Sue made a moving speech that concluded the evening`s proceedings.The proceeds from the evening will be split between a permanent memorial at the colliery and the Thornycroft Miners Recreational Centre at Pontefract. Chris Skidmore (Yorks Area NUM Chairman) commented "little did I realise when I suggested the idea how much time and effort would be needed to organise such an event."" I must pay tribute to the efforts of all the lads at Kellingley for ensuring it`s huge success with special thanks indeed to the two Keiths,John,Steve,Tommy , Paul & Nigel for all their hard work." "If i have missed anyone out please accept my apologies no slight is intended" "My everlasting memory of the night was the "MUGGING" of Chris Kitchen (Yorkshire Area & National NUM Secretary) who despite being away in Ireland on Union Business took part in the auction by using his mobile phone!!! absolutely priceless)!!!

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Norway-U.K. Langeled Gas Pipe Said to Shut Next Week (Update1)
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By Ben Farey

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Langeled natural-gas pipeline from Norway, the U.K.’s largest source of imports, will close next week for three days of onshore maintenance, four people familiar with the work said.

Repairs are planned at Easington where Langeled arrives in the U.K., the people said, declining to be identified as the information isn’t public. Kjell Varlo Larsen, a spokesman for Gassco AS, which operates Norway’s gas-pipeline network, declined to comment.

U.K. gas for delivery next week reversed earlier losses to gain as much as 0.4 pence, or 1.4 percent, to 29.5 pence a therm at 10:01 a.m. local time, according to broker ICAP Plc. That’s equal to .38 a million British thermal units.

Langeled supplies gas from Norwegian North Sea fields, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc-operated Ormen Lange, the third- largest in Europe. Gas flows to Easington and other southern U.K. terminals are expected to decline by 75.7 million cubic meters a day, or 19 percent, in the week beginning May 6, according to forecasts on National Grid Plc’s Web site.

The grid forecast shows 332.1 million cubic meters of gas a day will be available at southern terminals for those seven days, the lowest capacity forecast until September when Interconnector (U.K.) Ltd.’s reversible pipeline to Belgium will close for maintenance.

Langeled is designed to handle about 70 million cubic meters a day, according to Gassco’s Web site. The world’s longest subsea link delivered a record 74.2 million cubic meters of the fuel to the U.K. on Feb. 13, National Grid data show.

The pipeline is 1,166 kilometers (725 miles) long, starting in Nyhamna in mid-Norway and crossing the North Sea to arrive in Britain at Easington near Hull.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Farey in London at bfarey@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 1, 2009 05:21 EDT

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Britain will continue to be able to opt out from the EU working time directive, it has been confirmed, after the final round of talks on the issue broke down in Brussels between the European Commission, MEPs and member states.

The UK government has refused to back down on its opt-out from the directive, which imposes a 48-hour limit on working time. A question mark has hung over the issue since a vote by MEPs in December calling for the opt-out to be abolished, but the matter seem now to have finally been put to rest after the council of ministers dropped further attempt at negotiations.

Employment relations minister Pat McFadden said: “Everyone has the right to basic protection surrounding the hours that they work, but it is also important that they have the right to choose those hours.”

But as Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of the media union BECTU pointed out: “Some of our members, particularly in film-making and television production, are forced to accept working arrangements in excess of 60 hours a week. If they don’t accept the terms, they don’t get the work.

“The policy makers also appear to have forgotten that the Working Time Directive is a health and safety measure. Excessive hours cost lives and damage health."

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber expressed disappointment at a missed opportunity. He said: “Long hours cause stress, illness and lowers productivity.

And when many employers are moving to short-time working, the need for an opt-out of the 48 hour week is even more out of date.

“The UK government still needs to tighten the law on working time, otherwise the EU could take it to court in order to protect UK workers from abuse of the 48 hour week.”

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Pay freeze does not seem to be a word that is bandied around company boardrooms — at least as far as their own pay is concerned.

Companies excuse paying obscene amounts to executives saying that a large proportion is performance-related. However, comparisons on basic pay are revealing. The basic salaries of 24 of the 35 directors from the table over can be compared and just two of them — Michael McLintock of insurance group Prudential and Stephen Green of the HSBC banking group — saw their basic salary frozen last
year. The figures strip out those directors where year-on-year comparisons cannot be made and the part-time chairs of a company where applicable.

Twenty-two got pay rises in their basic salary and 13 are in double percentage figure terms when earnings generally rose on average by 2.9%. The rises range from 31.7% for Paul Adams, chief executive of tobacco giant BAT, down to 2.9% for Mike Geoghegan, chief executive of HSBC. Year-on-year comparisons can be made for total pay packages of 25 top directors, and 18 got a pay increase last year. Ten directors got a rise of at least 16.5% against the 2.9% for the whole economy.

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QUESTIONS TO MIKE O'BRIEN MINISTER FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

24 APRIL 2009
 
Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow, Labour)      
What assessment he has made of the future use of clean coal technology in England; and if he will make a statement.


Mike O'Brien (Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change; North Warwickshire, Labour)      
Coal has a vital role in our energy mix, particularly in ensuring that we maintain our energy security. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday outlined plans for a financial incentive to support up to four commercial-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration projects. A new framework for the development of clean coal will be announced very shortly.

Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow, Labour)      
I thank the Minister for that reply, but does that mean that the coal industry in this country has a clear long-term role in energy generation in the UK, and is that not marvellous news for coal mining and for UK industry on this, the 25th anniversary of the miners' strike?

Mike O'Brien (Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change; North Warwickshire, Labour)      
I hope that our announcement will indeed secure a long-term future for coal in this country. Today coal generates around a third of the electricity that we use annually, and in peak times particularly, such as when it was snowing in February, that can go up to 50 or 60 per cent. However, coal emits carbon and that is why carbon capture and storage is important. The CCS announcement is good news. A commercially viable CCS power station could secure the future of miners such as those at Daw Mill in my constituency for decades to come. There are still about 5,000 miners and 800 companies supplying the industry, many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises, so our announcement is, I hope, good news indeed.

Michael Weir (Spokesperson (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Energy; Work and Pensions); Angus, Scottish National Party)      
The Minister will be aware that under BETTA—the British electricity trading and transmission arrangements—clean coal generation in England may well have to be balanced by generation in Scotland. However, the new system being promoted by Ofgem and the National Grid Company for balancing charges may lead to huge new costs for Scottish generators and could undermine investment in clean coal. Will he look into that and ensure that no such charges are introduced?

Mike O'Brien (Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change; North Warwickshire, Labour)      
I cannot give the hon. Gentleman a guarantee that no such charges will be introduced. However, I am very happy to meet him and discuss some of those issues, which are enormously important. We meet regularly with Ofgem and we want to ensure that discussions about such issues are conducted appropriately.

Andrew MacKinlay (Thurrock, Labour)      
Will one of the four clean coal pilot schemes to which my hon. and learned Friend referred be at Tilbury in Essex? If so, what sort of generation of jobs and skills, as well as energy savings, can my constituents expect?

Mike O'Brien (Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change; North Warwickshire, Labour)      
I am afraid that I cannot indicate at this stage where each of the projects will be, but bids can be put in. My hon. Friend is a great advocate for his area and has been throughout his service in the House. I cannot indicate where the sites will be, but we will consider the projects in due course. We hope that we will be able to get a project in place and producing with carbon capture and storage between 2014 and 2016.

David Howarth (Cambridge, Liberal Democrat)      
Many of us who have long supported carbon capture and storage as the best option for an interim technology to get us through to a more renewable energy supply system will welcome the announcement. However, we have also long been worried about the Government's dithering on the issue, which we suspect might have something to do with the fact that the closest rival of carbon capture and storage is nuclear. Will the Government now apologise to all those environmental campaigners who have been treated almost as if they were a terrorist threat over the past couple of years for putting forward a proposition that the Government now appear to be on the brink of accepting?

Mike O'Brien (Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change; North Warwickshire, Labour)      
I am not quite sure what the hon. Gentleman means by various environmental campaigners, because people in the green movement have all sorts of views on the issue. There are some in the green movement who have been strong advocates of carbon capture and storage and there are others who have said that under no circumstances can we have coal power generation in this country. As with other groups of people, there are differences. However, we need electricity generation for the future in which we ensure a base load of nuclear and a clear component of renewables. The problem of intermittency needs to be addressed and that can be done by having the flexibility that gas and coal-powered generation with carbon capture and storage can provide.

David Taylor (North West Leicestershire, Labour)      
Given the prerequisite of carbon capture technology, I would welcome an expanded role for coal in power generation. The last Leicestershire miners work in the Daw Mill colliery in the Minister's constituency and the coal is burnt at Ratcliffe power station just yards from the constituency boundary. Does he agree that there is a risk that an expanded role for coal will encourage UK Coal in its expansion of open-cast coal extraction, which is absolutely unacceptable almost wherever we find it? UK Coal's vultures will be flying over the residual shallow seams left by the closure of deep mines and we cannot countenance that as the price of an expanded role for coal.

Mike O'Brien (Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change; North Warwickshire, Labour)      
As my hon. Friend knows, the issues that surround planning and open-cast are matters for the Department for Communities and Local Government, but we want to ensure the future of miners—as he said, some of his constituents have worked at the colliery in my constituency at Daw Mill—and that deep mines have a long-term sustainable future. That depends on ensuring that we have CCS. As for open-cast, the Government and minerals planning guidance 3 have a presumption against it.

Gregory Barker (Shadow Minister, Energy and Climate Change; Bexhill & Battle, Conservative)      
The news that the Government have effectively abandoned their previously slow, embarrassingly unambitious and unfunded CCS competition and moved towards the vision for CCS that was articulated by my right hon. Friend Mr. Cameron last year is welcome, but there is still huge scepticism that this is just another Labour smokescreen of spin and rhetoric. We are to have a statement shortly on CCS, but can the Minister answer one fundamental question? Can he guarantee that not a single new coal-fired power station will be built without CCS being up and running from day one? Or is this just another Labour "Sometime never; well into the future; not on my watch" strategy to get the Government through a difficult political period?
Alex Churchill: A very aggressive and argumentative way of putting it, but the question in his last two sentences is a good one, and sadly not one that the Minister answered. It'd be great to hear a statement from the Government that "not a single new coal-fired power station will be built without CCS being up and running from day one", but that's not the kind of statement this government seems to like making.
Mike O'Brien (Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change; North Warwickshire, Labour)      
We can see that the Conservative party's attitude towards the coal industry during the 1980s and early '90s, when the Conservative Government closed the pits, remains in place. The vehemence with which the hon. Gentleman put his points demonstrates how miners in this country have faced the Conservative party's opposition to their even being employed.
We will be making a statement within the hour—or very shortly; it depends on the first statement, sp perhaps in two hours—in which we will set out in detail how we will be taking CCS forward. The hon. Gentleman's claim that the Leader of the Opposition has been in some way an advocate for the coal industry is laughable. Ensuring that we have a low-carbon economy, with coal as a part of that, and that we generate electricity from coal using CCS, is a key component of our policy.
 

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