The Spectator

Barometer | 10 March 2016

Plus: the price of power at Hinkley Point; and an immigration estimate for if Turkey joins the EU

issue 12 March 2016

Lonely fortress

Weoley Castle in Birmingham was revealed to be the least-visited tourist attraction in England, with 5,205 visitors last year. What is there to see?
— It is described as the ruins of a fortified manor house built by the Lords of Dudley as a hunting lodge in the 1270s. Visitors can view the ruins from a platform most days, but can access the stones by special arrangement or for events such as the Easter egg hunt.
— It is also possible to hire the Event Space for conferences and corporate events — described as an ‘open-plan multi-functional space with a digital projector and screen, and with room for 30 people’.

Power games

EDF’s finance officer resigned after warning that the Hinkley Point C reactor could bring the company to its knees — in spite of British consumers being forced to pay a guaranteed, index-linked price of £92 per MWh ($134/MWh) for electricity from the plant. How does this cost compare with current electricity generation costs in OECD countries?
— Natural gas: $61 per MWh (US) to $133 per MWh (Japan).
— Coal: $66 per MWh (Germany) to $95 per MWh (Japan).
— Nuclear $29 per MWh (South Korea) to $64 per MWh (UK).
— Solar: $69 per MWh (Austria) to $142 per MWh (Belgium).
— Onshore wind: $33 per MWh (US) to $135 per MWh (Japan).
Source: IEA





Talking Turkey

How many Turkish migrants might come to live in the UK if Turkey joined the EU?
— To take Poland as an example, in 2001 there were 60,711 Polish-born people living in the UK. Since Poland joined the EU that has grown to 688,000. The extra arrivals are equivalent to 1.6% of a population of 39m.
—If 1.6% of the 79m population of Turkey migrated to the UK, it would mean 1.3m

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