Lets just hand away the whole country. Do we as a nation retain control of anything any more!
And lets face it Gordon's idea of good value was to flog the gold reserve for peanuts. Oh sorry for got the back hander......oh sorry didn't mean to infer anything.....

Keith, Newcastle, England

The government deliberately abandoned manufacturing and engineering in favour of a financial services economy, and look where that has got us. No wonder students avoid engineering and science as a career, there are no jobs for them after all their hard work.

Clifford Forsyth, London, UK

Stop whinging. The French have the expertise for this. All our nuclear engineers are about to retire. We are already too late to avoid power poverty as the old stations are switched off and not replaced. We don't have any choice in the matter if we want to avoid economic meltdown without power.

Chris, London,

Its a blow to national pride, but the British people themselves are better off with the French running the power systems. At least the French invest in technology and engineering, and don't base their economy on basket case high fianciers that have stripped britain of its industrial base.

Paul, carlow, ireland

We could sell them the houses of parliament with contents.

David, Heksinki, Finland

Westinghouse, the world's leading nuclear power engineer having built four times as many units as the French, was sold in December 2006 to Toshiba by Gordon Brown, so that British Energy could be added to South Eastern ,South Western and London Electricity already Nationalised by the French State

Thomas Pallister, Saffron Walden, England

There goes the very last of the family silver. First the gold and now this.

Richard, Alicante, Spain

Bankrupt chancellor needs to fill black hole in country's finances .family silver for sale.

g. p. edlin, london, uk

Let them have the Nuclear power stations we are well rid of them , technology is advancing at such a speed every town may have its own mini Thermohydrogen power plant within 20 years, the Planet is a gigantic dynamo producing all the natural energy mankind could ever dream of using.

E Pryor, Gravesend , uk

It's all about old alliances - the Scots and French against England .................. Brown .............. what can one say, apart from how was he allowed to get in this position to damage England in this way ? - and what can be done to save England from this Scot?

Marty, London,

How utterly, utterly pathetic. However, you can't fault the French. Their politicians had the guts, commitment, long term vision and an appreciation of technocratic issues that our lot simply don't have.

Julian Bassett, London, UK

UK science, engineering and manufacturing have been allowed to decline for decades. Start teaching maths and sciences to a proper standard in schools/universities and we may have our own nuclear engineers again in twenty years time. Government; put some proper funding into manufacturing start-ups!

Dave, Bognor, UK

What on earth is wrong with this country giving away all our energy companies, is there a hidden agenda behind all this?

Lawrence, Lowestoft,

Can't help thinking this is a bad move. There are some things that surely should remain under government control in the nation's interest. When financial situations turn bad, are all these foreign owners going to put their international committments in front of their own national interests??

Mike, Limal, Belgium

If it's in any way likely to reduce our dependence on gas from Russia then I'm all for it.

David, Cheshire,

can the French also take over the Houses of Parliament please. Perhaps this country can be as pleasant as France

Mike, Sole Street, England

EDF are one unit with Gaz de France and the transmission network including the Hydroelectric system.
Thatcher, etc, broke up the CEGB and sold off the bits,the French did no such thing and now have a world beating company.
Nuclear power decisions were not taken. Now we see the result.The French .

David Kent., Swindon.,

EDF wants to buy our power industry because they are forbidden (by the same government that owns them) from ripping off French consumers. But they're not forbidden to rip off UK consumers. And nuclear waste costs the UK taxpayer exactly double the electricity price. So it's really a triple subsidy!

Roddy M, Edinburgh,

EDF's takeover is good news....a successful company investing in the UK...after we failed..the only problem is our failures are probably recieving massive golden pensions and living in their French 'gites'. An inquest should punish those who betray and fail us...starting with the bankers!!

Stephen Morris, London, uk

Is this some sort of daft french joke, one of which us honest clean Englishmen do not understand. England should build power plants on british soil but never the french,what ever happened to the old saying "engand is for the english" if the french want to build nuclear power stations do it in france

Daniel, Newcastle, england

" Do we really want our energy supplies to be controlled by foreign powers?"
Ian Statham, Cheltenham,
Wake up Ian! Our Gas comes mostly from Russia, and our coal largely from eastern Europe. Oil? The North Sea is a trickle compared to the OPEC river. Which bit are we in control of?

Matthew, Plymouth,

Well, you have sat on your backsides for years and nothing happened. Where was your power coming from? 25% of it from France. Now they are going to do what UK should have done 10 years or more ago. Far too much dithering.

m wilson, bidache, france

Britain faces a crisis in its electricity production unless it starts replacing its tottering power-plants right now.

Now all we see is moaning and griping when a successful overseas company is brought in to do what Britain has neglected for 20 years. This highlights the wisdom of the sale.

Golodh, London, UK

Good time to start a candle factory.. we could have a Minister for Candles.. H&S 4000 page Rules for candle Factories..planning officer for Factories(Candle)...Energy Efficiency testing legislation(Candles)..Licence to manufacture(Candles)..Etc Etc....Naa...w I think I will stay on Benefits!!

Tony, Derby, UK

The obvious answer to reduce EdF's market share is to force it to divest some of its non-nuclear generation - and to other companies which are not part of the Big Six cartel.

Paul, Coventry,

The French have some of the worst infrastructure in Europe - trust me, I've lived there. Could I suggest we sell our Nuclear industry to the Germans or Swiss instead please?

James, London, UK

Almost unoticed the French have been using their EU presidency to strut and preen on the world stage as if they own the EU! The French actually believe in their destiny to rule Europe and the UK are helping them all the way, the French system is based on the Napoleonic system of Euro hegemony!

Stephanie King, larnaca, Cyprus

Where has all the money gone from North sea oil and gas?.Will Brown now boast that the nuclear industry has been re-nationalised?.Will British nuclear workers have the same right to strike as their counterparts in France?.Will the 200yrs of coal resrves still be there in 200yrs?.Politicians=sleeping

Kenneth O'Boyle, Perth, UK

There should be no problem with pricing once the French take over. All that is required is that our government sets the price at which the electricity is sold.

David, Burnley,

I suppose it could be forcibly nationalised again...

Sarah, Montpellier, France

We have only ourselves to blame. Our government, unlike the French, did not retain a majority shareholding when it privatised the utilities and railways. Any fool could see that sooner or later they were likely to be bought up by foreigners. The chickens are coming home to roost with a vengeance!

John, Canterbury, UK

Would it be better to let EDF buy no more than half of the nuclear sites and use their money to invest in new generation capability at the other half. Then we would not be at the total mercy of a foreign owned company.

George Taylor, Derby, England

I think we should sell them the Rail companies and the NHS as well. Maybe these institutions are gonna work (properly)after.

Ivan, Newcastle,

Its very sad to think that Britain was once GREAT, have no fear it is no longer thanks to the gov.ts selling everything off , the crown jewels will be next......the French will be able to charge us what they please and what can we do about it?, is there any kind of agreement in place to protect us?

C. Kroustis, London, UK

I'm really hoping SNCF would take over all UK rail companies, and RATP the TfL. This country badly needs French infrastructure and administration.

James, London,

indict Bruin for Treason says I- unfortunately Parliament, oiks and Lords,would have to agree

peter c, Devizes, Wessex

Why has no-one commented on the fact that EDF's media guy in the UK is none other than Andrew Brown, our esteemed PM's brother. And why have the papers not reported on the donations to both the Labour AND Conservative parties by EDF?

Graham, Bradford, England

It beggars belief that people are actually worried about French control of our nuclear energy. I am usually rather a Eurosceptic on these subjects but the French saftey and efficiency records far surpass our own within nuclear power.

This is a good move!

Ian, Weymouth, England

And what happens if EDF is taken over by Chinese or Russian companies? Do we really want our energy supplies to be controlled by foreign powers?

Ian Statham, Cheltenham,

How on earth can the government think there is no money in it when the French Gov owns 84% of EDF. We sell everything we have. Dubai and Singapore have government funds to buy businesses elsewhere. The French own most of their own big assets. We are a second rate country now - pathetic.

Garry, London, UK

How have we got to the position where selling off assets of utmost national importance to the French is as acceptable as nationalising failed financial institutions which were disasters waiting to happen. Time for a root and branch reassessment of UK economic policy. Brown + Co- time is running out!

WM, Glasgow,

Thank heavens someone is alive to the competition implications - there is already too much concentration of generation and, even worse, generators are allowed to own suppliers - vertical dismemberment is required plus divestments of some some generating plant - Ofgem won't listen though

Richard, Newton Abbot,

Our failure to "keep up" with nuclear technology is clearly the fault of successive governments and those who influence them. So, would all those procrastinators in government and the members of the shrill anti-nuclear lobby please stand up and take a bow - well done, chaps.

Al, weybridge, UQ

To allow mere humans, to fool with Nuclear Energy, is like giving a monkey a gold watch.
Furthermore, I can still remember when dear old 'Supermac' said 'They're selling off the Family Silver to pay the butler.
Well, it's all gone now, and the British Public are paying through the nose for basics

Clive Burghard, Lancing, ENGLAND

A worrying development, the French traditionally have no regard for allowing proper competitive practice and have few qualms using resources at their disposal for political means. If at some point the French government changes this could mean price rises as they seek to undermine our economy.

Tom, Epsom,

I cannot believe that we are giving this business to EDF. The French refuse to privatise anything but have no issue with buying up all our large assets.

It all seems crazy to me. I suppose we should just move to France to enjoy the benefits of our hard work.

Jimmy, London,

This is a fantastic bail-out for the British taxpayer. Nobody else would buy the company and Britain's record on nuclear power is not anywhere near as impressive as the French, despite our early start.

Standard renewables are not going to solve the climate crisis alone, nuclear is a must.

Adrian Cox, London, UK