Grant denies Tory over onshore wind farms

Business Secretary Grant Shapps has denied there is a split in the Tory Party over onshore wind farms.

In the summer leadership contest, Rishi Sunak had pledged to keep the effective ban on new onshore wind in England.

Former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are among those backing an attempt to overturn this ban.

But Mr Shapps said he did not see this as a “rebellion” because everyone agreed there should be local consent for new wind turbines.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was “definitely a contribution to be made by onshore wind”, although there should be local support for any new turbines and ideally communities should benefit from them.

“If you can do that then I have no principled objection,” he added.

Onshore wind is a cheap, renewable source of energy, but opponents say turbines are noisy and an eyesore.

During her brief premiership, Ms Truss sought to relax planning rules, which have resulted in an effective ban on new onshore wind turbines.

Simon Clarke, who was a cabinet minister under Ms Truss, has tabled an amendment to the Levelling Up Bill that would overturn a planning clampdown on onshore wind introduced by then-Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015.

He said the move would allow new turbines where there is local consent.

Around 30 Tory MPs are believed to have added their names to the amendment, including outgoing COP26 President Alok Sharma and former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry.

Labour has said it would support the amendment, increasing the chances of a government defeat.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has also told allies he supports ending the ban on onshore wind farms, according to the Daily Telegraph.

But Mr Shapps denied reports of a cabinet split over the issue, saying “we all want there to be local consent”.

He said he believed the amendment would give local communities the “final say” on new wind turbines in their area – and that this was in line with his own position and that of the prime minister.

Asked whether Mr Sunak would support the amendment, Mr Shapps said he did not think the prime minister had looked through all the planning ramifications yet, but he added: “We’ve been very clear, regardless, local communities need to both support and ideally see the benefits from this.”

Downing Street later said it would not predict “what might happen in the future” on onshore wind.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister has talked at great length about his views on where the focus should be on renewables, where he is talking about building more wind turbines offshore in order to boost energy security and also the importance of ensuring communities support any action the government takes on renewables.”

Asked if the Business Secretary Grant Shapps was signalling an imminent U-turn, the spokesman said: “I’m sure he’s pointing to the rules that are already in place: to allow for consultation.”

During his first, unsuccessful, campaign to be Conservative leader over the summer, Mr Sunak had promised to maintain the ban on new onshore wind turbines in England.

Asked about the ban earlier this month, Mr Sunak told MPs the government wanted to focus on offshore rather than onshore wind.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said his party would lift the ban on onshore wind if it wins power at the next general election, which is expected to take place in 2024.

Labour’s proposed planning changes include removing a provision that allows a single person’s objection to stop an application.

Moves to overturn the ban are the latest challenge faced by Mr Sunak over his Levelling-Up Bill’s planning measures.

The bill’s journey through Parliament has already been delayed by a Tory backbench rebellion over housebuilding targets.