The Lowdown on Brian Wilson: So much energy, he can never rest

Clayton Hirst meets the minister who lunched with Castro and is now in the soup over a nuclear rescue

He's friends with Fidel Castro, owns a newspaper, is the author of the definitive history of Celtic Football Club and, oh yes, he is trying to sort out British Energy. Welcome to Wilson's intriguing world

Britain's energy minister, a tough-talking, hard-working Scot, can count more than the usual "gardening" and "theatre" on his list of interests. The MP for Cunninghame North has gradually risen though the ranks of government, holding positions in the Foreign Office and Scottish Office. Now with the Department of Trade and Industry, he is at the centre of the mind-bendingly complex rescue of British Energy.

But never mind that. Even the most hardened investment banker would first want to hear about Wilson's three-hour lunches with the Cuban revolutionary before considering British Energy's discounted decommissioning liabilities.

Wilson likes to take charge of situations. He enjoys meeting people, brokering deals and banging heads together. It's these traits that led him to see Castro on a number of official visits. Wilson set up the meetings to discuss gas and oil markets and generally bat for British business. The pair last met in October – over sausages and wine in Castro's private dining room. The conversation, it is said, touched on art, war and, of course, energy. Talking via a translator, and protected by armed guards, the minister and the Cuban leader got on well. Castro even personally escorted Wilson and his team back to the airport in a fleet of limousines.

If only dealing with British Energy and its bankers was as congenial.

Wilson was thrust into the spotlight on 5 September when the nuclear company, which generates around 20 per cent of the country's electricity, announced it was close to collapse. Wilson, fearing that British Energy's failure could cause electricity shortages, offered to rescue it. He refuses to call it a bailout, but the deal has involved two loans, an offer to pay the company's waste liabilities for more than 10 years, and a knock-down price for nuclear reprocessing through British Nuclear Fuels.

"This is not a bailout. That is certainly not what motivates us," says Wilson. "It is a dramatic recognition of the electricity British Energy produces and the fact that walking away from the company would, in the long run, cost us more."

Only last week, British Energy revealed the full extent of the mess it was in when it announced first-half losses of £337m. Even allowing for restructuring costs, this was higher than most analysts had expected. "This is a predictable reflection of the conditions facing British Energy," says Wilson.

The restructuring, which will involve a massive debt-for-equity swap, is due to be completed by 9 March, but Wilson hints that everything is still up in the air. Asked if he expects the £650m in government loans to be repaid on schedule, he says: "Well, that is something we will look at on 9 March. We don't want the loan to increase. It depends on the timing of the sale of Bruce [British Energy's Canadian business]."

On the possibility of administration, Wilson says: "Even now, it is not all done and dusted. All the affected parties have to sign up to this and, if it all goes pear-shaped, administration remains a possibility. But this is not a preferred option."

And the Government hasn't even established exactly where the money to pay the huge costs of bailing out British Energy (the largest expense being the £150m to £200m a year to cover waste liabilities for at least 10 years) will come from. The Treasury has made it clear there will be no extra money, so the DTI will have to find the cash from within its existing budgets.

Asked if this means the DTI will have to cut back on other projects to pay for the rescue, Wilson says: "Well, that's the logic of it. But that cost doesn't kick in until 2004 and we have a long time before that becomes a reality."

Wilson was not a stranger to British Energy before it hit the rocks. He has known its former chairman, Robin Jeffrey, for many years "because", says Wilson, "of my constituency and connec- tions with the Scottish nuclear industry".

He denies that Jeffrey's replacement, the former investment banker Adrian Montague, was recruited by the Government. "That was the decision of the board, and that is a genuine statement," he insists. But when asked about Montague, Wilson manages to turn the conversation back to the former chairman. "Well, [Montague] obviously has a different set of skills. You know the interesting thing about Robin Jeffrey is that he's a nuclear engineer."

Later he says: "Different skills are required at British Energy. But the point about Robin Jeffrey is ..."

Apart from the occasional criticism that he was too close to the former chairman, the main charge hanging over the energy minister is that he's overtly pro-nuclear. In the run-up to the publication of the Energy White Paper, due early next year, this has incensed some environmentalists.

Wilson insists nothing in the paper has been set in stone. But he doesn't hide his own view: "I think that it is perverse to run down our sole existing source of non-carbon generation at exactly the time we are setting very ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions."

Environmental issues such as these are championed by what Wilson describes as his "real passion", the West Highland Free Press. He founded the Isle of Skye newspaper in 1972 after studying journalism at University College, Cardiff. He still owns just over a quarter of the weekly title, which makes a modest profit.

One of the paper's biggest campaigns of late was against the construction of the controversial Skye toll bridge, completed in 1995. At the time, Wilson opposed the project. Promoting the scheme was one Adrian Montague, who was then head of the Treasury Taskforce set up under the last Conservative government to push the Private Finance Initiative.

Having trained as a journalist, Wilson put his writing skills to use in 1988 by penning Celtic: A Century with Honour, a history of his beloved team. He says it sold well (26,000 copies) until a video of Celtic's history came out. "All the punters who couldn't read bought the video instead," he jokes.

He adds that he's considering updating the book "given that the club has had six managers in five years".

So, there you have it. A whistle-stop tour round the energy's minister's world. Now, who said politicians were dull?

Oh, and, as promised, the amount of British Energy's discounted decommissioning liabilities. Well, if you really want to know, the DTI says it's £900m.