Kemi Badenoch has been accused of “staggering hypocrisy” after privately opposing an energy infrastructure project in her constituency, despite taking aim at the government for not doing enough to tackle nimby blockers.
In a letter to constituents last month, seen by The Independent, the Tory leader said she has “joined six other Conservative MPs from across East Anglia in writing to Ed Miliband to demand a fair and thorough assessment of alternatives to the Norwich to Tilbury pylons project”.
She said the project – which passes through her Saffron Waldon constituency – “risks permanent environmental and visual damage, would hurt house prices, disrupt farms, businesses and community spaces”.
The project will see a new 400 kilovolt electricity transmission line built between Norwich and Tilbury, spanning over 180 kilometres.
Mrs Badenoch said she told the energy secretary to consider laying the pylons underground, even though such a move is estimated to cost taxpayers far more.
When the Tory leader’s office was asked about her opposition to the plans, they claimed “there is evidence it is just as cost-effective” to put the cables underground. But when asked to provide the evidence, they failed to do so.
National Grid sources said that burying the cables would not only be up to seven times more expensive, it would also not meet the requirements of the project.
Meanwhile, a report from the Institution of Engineering and Technology said underground cables are, on average, around 4.5 times more expensive than overhead lines.
Writing in The Times less than a month ago, Mrs Badenoch said: “Politically, government is increasingly powerless in the face of legal challenges.
“Last week I spoke about the tangle of domestic and international rules that block us building new homes and infrastructure”.
And last year, as shadow housing secretary in the weeks after the election, she suggested that new Labour backbenchers would turn into nimbys when they face complaints from voters.
“Many of them have been thinking they’d get into government and concrete over lots of Tory constituencies,” she told the Commons.
“Three weeks ago just 15 per cent of the green belt was in Labour constituencies, now it’s 50 per cent. They aren’t Tory constituencies now, they are Labour.
“They are now your voters and you’re going to have to tell them that you’re going to do something that many of you promised locally that you would never do.”
Labour MP for Milton Keynes North, Chris Curtis, warned that Mrs Badenoch’s decision to oppose the pylon line demonstrates “the same ‘one rule for us’ mindset that brought us wild parties in Downing Street while the country suffered in silence”.
“Kemi Badenoch is fast becoming the poster child for everything the British public rightly despises about politics”, he said.
“She rails against legal blockages in the media while using them at home when it suits her. Voters have had over a decade of being lectured by politicians in Westminster, only to watch them flip flop whenever they could benefit personally or politically.
“It is the same ‘one rule for us’ mindset that brought us wild parties in Downing Street while the country suffered in silence.”
He added: “But that kind of hypocrisy is not just insulting, it is holding Britain back”.
Meanwhile, David Taylor – Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead – said it was “staggering hypocrisy”, warning that Britain “can’t afford more Tory nimbyism when our country’s future is on the line.”
He said: “After her government did their best to bankrupt the country, she’s joined fellow Tory MPs to block the Tilbury pylons project in her own patch, while the country urgently needs new energy infrastructure to keep the lights on and power new homes.
“This is classic one rule for them, another for everyone else. The Conservatives were in power for 14 years and left us with the worst housebuilding record since the 1920s, a time when pylons hadn’t even been invented.
“Now Labour’s in government, we’re serious about building the infrastructure and homes Britain desperately needs.”
A spokesperson for National Grid said: “We’re committed to consulting extensively and listening to the views of communities and stakeholders as we develop and shape our plans.
“Our role is to find a way to take the home-grown, more affordable and cleaner energy from where it’s generated to where it’s needed in our homes, business and public services, and we share our plans with Ofgem to ensure value for money for bill payers.
“We consider all technology options – offshore, underground, and overhead lines – and then balance a range of factors, including what’s possible from an engineering and environmental point of view and feedback from local communities.
“The secretary of state for energy security & net zero will then make the final decision, following a recommendation from the Planning Inspectorate, on whether we have got that balance right when considering granting planning permission.”
A spokesperson for Mrs Badenoch said: “She’s pushing for the cables to be buried. She’s on the record calling for this and that there is evidence it is just as cost effective.”
The Independent has contacted the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for comment.
