Alok Sharma joins rebellion against Rishi Sunak's ban on onshore wind

2022-11-26

Rishi gets blown off course: Alok Sharma joins Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in growing rebellion against PM Sunak’s ban on onshore wind farms

Former Cop26 minister Alok Sharma has defied Rishi Sunak over onshore wind
The former Cabinet member Tweeted his support for UK wind turbines on land
Rishi Sunak wants to keep the ban on onshore wind but faces a Tory rebellion
Mr Sharma joins Labour, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in a rebelling against PM

Former Cabinet minister Alok Sharma has joined Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in a growing rebellion against Rishi Sunak’s ban on onshore wind farms.

Mr Sharma, who was the president of the Cop26 climate summit, backed an amendment to Government legislation in an attempt to lift the moratorium on new onshore windfarms.

His support takes former levelling-up secretary Simon Clarke’s amendment to the Levelling Up Bill to having the public backing of 22 Tory MPs.

Mr Sharma said he supports letting ‘local communities decide’, backing residents being given reduced energy bills in exchange for their support of new developments.

Rishi Sunak (pictured) is facing a growing rebellion over onshore wind after former Cabinet minister Alok Sharma joined Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in opposing the ban

Mr Sharma said he supports letting ‘local communities decide’, backing residents being given reduced energy bills in exchange for their support of new developments

‘Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of renewable power and will help to bolster the UK’s energy security,’ he Tweeted.

‘Putin’s illegal and brutal war in Ukraine has reinforced that climate & environmental security are totally interlinked with energy and national security

‘Faster deployment of renewables, including onshore wind, is needed to deliver on the UK’s 2035, 100 per cent clean electricity target.’

The Prime Minister is facing a major challenge over planning policy from within the Conservative Party on multiple fronts.

He was forced to pull a vote on the legislation that would set a target of building 300,000 homes per year when around 50 Tory MPs threatened to rebel.

Mr Johnson did not seek to overturn the effective moratorium on new onshore wind projects, in place since 2015, during his time as PM.

On Twitter, Mr Sharma said ‘Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of renewable power and will help to bolster the UK’s energy security’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer backs lifting the ban, arguing that Mr Sunak’s refusal to do so as a ‘national act of self-harm, choking off our economic potential’.

Mr Clarke’s bid to change the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, currently going through Parliament, would force the Government to allow onshore wind farm applications by revising government planning guidance.

The Bill is expected to be debated again next month. During Ms Truss’s short tenure as PM, she vowed to relax the planning laws that have led to a virtual moratorium on wind farms since 2015 – and bring them in line with other developments.

But when Rishi Sunak was bundled into No 10 to pick up the mess, he scrapped the policy.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) backs lifting the ban, arguing that Mr Sunak’s refusal to do so as a ‘national act of self-harm, choking off our economic potential’

A moratorium was imposed on new wind farms in 2015 under David Cameron. Pictured: Wind turbines in Lambrigg in the southern Lake District

Yesterday No 10 opened the door to reconsidering onshore wind by promising to look at Mr Clarke’s amendment, but sources insisted the PM was focused on offshore wind.

A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘We will consider all amendments and set out our position in the usual way.

‘The PM has been clear, though, that we want to support more renewables, for them to come online and the focus remains on building more wind turbines offshore in order to boost our energy security.’

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