Former Tory chair joins rebellion over Sunak’s onshore windfarm ban | Renewable energy

Rishi Sunak is embroiled in a growing rebellion over his ban on new onshore windfarms as the former Conservative chairman Jake Berry became the latest senior MP to announce he would join an effort to overturn the policy.

The former cabinet minister said he would support the former levelling up secretary Simon Clarke, who has tabled an amendment to legislation going through parliament demanding the current moratorium on new developments be lifted.

He joins the former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, and the Cop26 president, Alok Sharma, in urging a climbdown from the prime minister. The levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, is also said to believe the de facto ban on windfarms should be dropped.

More than 30 Tories are now believed to back the Clarke amendment to the levelling up and regeneration bill, which would allow windfarms in rural areas where there is community consent. Labour has confirmed it is backing the amendment, increasing the likelihood of Sunak suffering a damaging defeat on the issue.

Berry, who was sacked as party chair by Sunak, told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “Boris Johnson famously used to call wind turbines the white satanic mills of the north of England when they were building them all over my constituency.

“He’s changed his mind on them, I to a large extent have changed my mind and I’m going to be supporting Simon Clarke and his amendment because I think if you want to know why we should have more renewables, just look at your gas or electricity bill.”

Since 2014, planning rules have in effect barred new onshore windfarms in England under a tightening of restrictions imposed by David Cameron’s government after pressure from Tory activists.

The push for greater energy independence since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted calls for this to end. Truss had promised to change the rules but was ousted before she was able to do so.

Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, said: “Onshore wind is the cheapest, cleanest energy we have. The Tories’ ban has kept bills high and damaged our energy security. Rishi Sunak‘s weakness means he’s having to be dragged to scrap it by his backbenches. He should swallow his pride and U-turn now.

“Labour will support the Simon Clarke amendment, but even that swaps the ban for what is still a highly restrictive planning regime on onshore wind – risking blocking developments and keeping bills high. Under this government, we’re forced to move only at the pace of the slowest Tory backbencher.”

Johnson did not seek to overturn the effective moratorium on new onshore wind projects during his time as prime minister but has since changed his mind. Sharma said he supported 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. Putin’s illegal and brutal war in Ukraine has reinforced that climate and 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%-clean electricity target,” he tweeted.

The row over onshore windfarms is the second major challenge to the bill. Last week, No 10 pulled a scheduled vote on the bill after a rebellion over planning policy.

An amendment led by the former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers and backed by more than 50 Tory MPs seeks to scrap mandatory local housing targets and make them advisory only.

The former communities secretary Sajid Javid criticised the rebels, writing in the Sunday Times that he was “dismayed” to see they had put their names to “damaging” amendments.

“These amendments would scrap mandatory targets and the presumption in favour of development, two crucial tools that we need in order to build more houses where people actually want to live,” he wrote.

“But tearing down the existing planning system and failing to build anything credible to replace it would be a colossal failure of political leadership.”