REM: British prime minister may U-turn on onshore wind

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may U-turn on allowing more onshore wind farms in England.

When he ran for office, Sunak – who has only been in office for a month – said that he would concentrate on offshore wind. Onshore wind development has been all but stopped in England because Conservative lawmakers fear local opposition in their constituencies.

But after new pushback from Conservative lawmakers, including two ex-prime ministers, Business Minister Grant Shapps on November 28 said the prime minister in fact backed building onshore wind farms if there is local support. He downplayed the change of policy. Sunak is a Conservative.

"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," he said to Times Radio.

Simon Clarke, ‘levelling up’ minister under Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss, has said he wants to ease onshore wind development if there is local support.

"What Simon Clarke has said as the proposer of this amendment, it's what the prime minister has said," he told the interviewer.

Clarke has proposed to amend legislation to lift stringent 2015 planning restrictions that have effectively halted new onshore wind. It is the “the cheapest form of energy generation bar none,” he has said.

A few days ago, he claimed the backing of Sunak’s immediate predecessors, Truss and the populist ex-prime minister Boris Johnson. They have not denied their support.

“As this technology is supported by more than 70% of the public and over 80% of Conservative voters, we’re confident that most people will back ministers in levelling the playing field and allowing onshore wind to compete alongside other sources of energy to drive bills down,” said RenewableUK’s executive director of policy, Ana Musat.