Nuclear debate: 'It doesn’t matter where the money comes from'

Some in Somerset are keen to see the creation of employment to halt the departure of its able and ambitious young people; others have concerns

Fishing boat skipper Steve Yeandle was in no doubt. "Bring it on. We all want the lights to work when we press the switch. We need secure energy. Yes, I'd prefer it if it was our government putting the money in, but you can't have everything. Nuclear seems to be the viable way to go, and if it is Chinese money making it happen then so be it."

Yeandle was working on his boat - Scooby Doo Too - in the harbour at Watchet, a modest town on the Somerset coast a few miles west of Hinkley Point. For more than 30 years, he has escorted anglers on to the Bristol Channel in search of cod, skate and whiting. They tend to quiz him briefly about the squat towers of the Hinkley A and B nuclear power station as they chug away from the harbour - and then get on with their fishing.