Labour MP Brian Leishman warns Burnham's nuclear plan will make British communities targets for Putin when Parliament returns

From the Newshound archive · first published 10 October 2026 · last updated 11 October 2026.

Scottish Labour MP Brian Leishman is set to challenge Prime Minister Andy Burnham over nuclear expansion when Parliament returns from recess on Monday, warning that building reactor sites across the UK would hand Vladimir Putin a target list. Leishman, the Alloa and Grangemouth MP who repeatedly called for Keir Starmer to resign, is expected to argue in a Westminster Hall debate that the UK could be at war with Russia by 2030 and that dispersed nuclear sites would put ordinary communities in the crosshairs.

Hinkley Point C's price tag has already ballooned from an estimated £18bn to nearly £32bn, and Leishman warns Scottish sites could suffer the same cost explosion.

The Scottish Government has effectively blocked new nuclear in Scotland, backing renewables instead — putting Holyrood on a collision course with Burnham's energy strategy.

Leishman's intervention tears open a fresh Labour civil war over whether nuclear expansion strengthens energy security or simply creates hundreds of new targets for Moscow.