Labour MPs Urge PM To Carry Out "Radical Reset" Of Nuclear Regulations

(Alamy)

3 min read25 November 2025

Exclusive: A group of Labour MPs is urging the government to overhaul nuclear sector regulations after a long-awaited report said that Britain is the most expensive place in the world to build a nuclear power station.

In February, Prime Minister Keir Starmer set up the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce. Led by the former CEO of the Office for Fair Trading, John Fingleton, it was tasked with producing recommendations on how the government can improve the delivery of nuclear projects.

The taskforce published its final report on Monday, warning that fundamental changes are needed to fix the problems in the UK sector and reverse the "relative decline" of its global position.

"Our solutions are radical, but necessary," Fingleton said.

"By simplifying regulation, we can maintain or enhance safety standards while finally delivering nuclear capacity safely, quickly, and affordably.”

The review concluded that nuclear regulation is overly complex, bureaucratic and risk-averse, frustrating new projects and unnecessarily costing the UK taxpayer tens of billions of pounds.

Ahead of the Budget on Wednesday, Labour MPs and pro-building groups have written to Starmer urging him to accept the review's recommendations in full, saying that the UK has a "once in a generation opportunity" to "build the energy and industrial infrastructure of the future on these islands".

The letter, seen by PoliticsHome, is signed by eight Labour backbenchers who were all elected for the first time last year, including Milton Keynes North's Chris Curtis, Lowestoft's Jess Asato and Hartlepool's Jonathan Brash. Representatives from the organisations Labour Together, Britain Remade, YIMBY Alliance, the Tony Blair Institute and British Progress have also signed it.

It says: "The government’s task force has rightly identified that to build nuclear energy in Britain, we must fix the delays, cancellations and cost overruns that have plagued projects over the last 30 years.

“We hope that the government will accept the recommendations of the task force in full, or, failing that, specify clearly which will be taken forward, and which may need more time."

The review's recommendations include removing duplication and establishing a 'one-stop shop' for decision-making to speed up the delivery of projects.

Here is a list of the signatories:

Tony Vaughan, MP for Folkestone and Hythe

Lizzi Collinge MP, Morecambe and Lunesdale

Tris Osborne, MP for Chatham and Aylesford

Luke Myer, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland

Henry Tufnell, MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire

Chris Curtis, MP for Milton Keynes North

Jess Asato, MP for Lowestoft

Jonathan Brash, MP for Hartlepool

Freddie Poser, Centre for British Progress

Julia Willemyns, Centre for British Progress

Morgan Wild, Labour Together