Subscribe to this blog's feedFormer trade and energy minister Brian Wilson obviously enjoys putting the green movement’s noses out of joint...
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The former firebrand editor of the West Highland Free Press has since decided that the corporate life is best. Following a time as a special envoy for former prime minister Tony Blair, the combative Wilson became a non-executive director of the nuclear division of Amec. He has, of course, been a prominent cheerleader for the nuclear cause for some time.
What’s not so widely known is that he has put his talents and lobbying acumen firmly behind the airline companies, which want to see aviation expansion. He chairs a lobby group called FlyingMatters whose members include British Airways, BAA, EasyJet, Virgin Atlantic, Airbus and Boeing.
As the battle hots up over plans to build a third runway at Heathrow – and another terminal – expect to see more of the football-loving Scot. He clearly relishes being a hate figure for the eco-movement.
Perhaps he believes there is safety in numbers. After all, a surprisingly large number of former Labour establishment colleagues have taken the nuclear shilling. Former Commons trade and industry committee chairman Martin O’Neill (subsequently a Labour peer) joined the Washington Group, a nuclear lobbying company, as an adviser.
Lord O’Neill now also chairs trade body the Nuclear Industry Association. Former Labour minister Richard Caborn has become an adviser to Amec UK and another ministerial colleague, Ian McCartney, has been recruited by Fluor of the US, another American company keen to pick up nuclear contracts in the UK.
