Rishi Sunak could back down as the Conservative party debates the future of a ban on new onshore wind farms, a cabinet minister has suggested. Business Secretary Grant Shapps denied that a growing Tory rebellion over the issue constituted a "row" - despite former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss being among those opposing the Prime Minister's position.
They are among some 30 Conservatives backing former levelling-up secretary Simon Clarke’s pro-wind amendment to the Levelling Up Bill. But Mr Shapps said he is “completely mystified” by headlines about it.
He told Times Radio: “It’s the most extraordinarily overwritten story I’ve read. The fact that a backbencher has an amendment in is literally something that happens every single day in Parliament.
“And his amendment, which is saying something like local people should have final say, is actually exactly what Rishi said when he last spoke on it, and indeed what I’ve said on it in the past.” He added: “It just strikes me it’s not really a row.
“We’re all basically saying the same thing. You need local consent if you’re going to have wind power onshore, because it can be quite a big imposition on the local environment.”
Mr Shapps also told Sky News that “to present it as some sort of massive gulf is completely untrue”. The amendment to the Levelling Up Bill would allow wind farms in rural areas where there is community consent.
Although Mr Shapps suggested this is also the Prime Minister’s policy, Mr Sunak in fact vowed to maintain the moratorium on new onshore wind during his unsuccessful Tory leadership bid in the summer. In July, Mr Sunak’s campaign said: “In recognition of the distress and disruption that onshore wind farms can often cause, Rishi has also promised to scrap plans to relax the ban on onshore wind farms in England, providing certainty to rural communities.”
Acknowledging such concerns, Mr Shapps said onshore wind turbines can be an eyesore if “not done properly”, and should be removed from “people’s eyelines”. Asked if Mr Sunak will support Mr Clarke’s amendment, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think either the Prime Minister or I have looked through all the planning ramifications of something which… is not about to come to a vote this week.
“But we’ve been very clear that, regardless, local communities need to both support and ideally see the benefits from this.”
The Business Secretary’s remarks signal a possible climbdown by the Prime Minister to avoid a damaging defeat by Tory rebels, made more likely by Labour’s backing for the amendment. Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry and Alok Sharma, who was president of the Cop26 climate summit, are some of the latest senior MPs to add their names to the legislation.
Mr Sunak is also facing a split in opinion from within his own Cabinet, with Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove understood to be backing an end to the moratorium.
