UK Politics

Onshore wind turbines are “an eyesore” and the current effective block on their construction should be kept in place, a cabinet minister says.Grant Shapps came out against “a big expansion” of the renewable technology – exposing government splits ahead of a long-delayed “energy independence plan”.“They sit on the hills and can create something of an eyesore for communities,” the transport secretary said, adding there are “problems of noise as well”.The energy strategy – due to be finally unveiled this week – should “largely” reject onshore wind for those “reasons of environmental protection”, Mr Shapps told Sky News.Instead, the plans should focus on reviving nuclear power and expanding offshore wind, he argued, adding: “Britain’s got more offshore wind power than any other country in the world.”The call comes as Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, pushes to double onshore wind turbine power by 2030, as part of the drive to wean the UK off Russian gas, following the Ukraine invasion.In a newspaper interview, Mr Kwarteng said he would not mind living next to a turbine, explaining: “I don’t have a huge antipathy to them.”But Mr Shapps suggested Boris Johnson is on his side of the clash, adding: “I think you will find our opinions are very closely aligned on this.”Asked if he was opposing the relaxation of planning laws – the route to building more wind farms – Mr Shapps argued “the way to go with this is largely, not entirely, but largely off-sea”.“I don’t think you want a huge expansion of onshore wind. There may be cases where it makes sense, but I think. by and large, we’ve established that offshore works very well.” he said.Cabinet rows over whether to relax planning rules to lift the block on onshore wind turbines have helped delay the new energy strategy – promised one month ago.The prime minister is also pushing to get 25 per cent of the UK’s electricity from nuclear power – requiring up to six new power stations – at a cost that is alarming Rishi Sunak, the chancellor.Meanwhile, Labour is urging the government to prepare to ration oil and gas as the Ukraine war deepens the energy crisis, accusing ministers of “complacency”.Germany, Austria and the Netherlands are among European countries considering restrictions on supplies, because of their heavy dependence on Russian energy.Asked if the UK should “do the same”, Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s shadow business secretary replied: “We should be making those plans”.He told the BBC: “The government should be preparing, not necessarily in public, for that situation. There’s a lot of complacency in this country about the relative lower exposure to Russian gas that we have.But Mr Shapps quickly insisted rationing will not be needed, saying: “ It’s not the route that we want to go down.” More

Labour is urging the government to prepare to ration oil and gas as the Ukraine war deepens the energy crisis, accusing ministers of “complacency”.Germany, Austria and the Netherlands are among European countries considering restrictions on supplies, because of their heavy dependence on Russian energy.Asked if the UK should “do the same”, Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s shadow business secretary replied: “We should be making those plans”.He told the BBC: “The government should be preparing, not necessarily in public, for that situation. There’s a lot of complacency in this country about the relative lower exposure to Russian gas that we have.“We should bear in mind that part of the supply that comes to this country from, for instance, Norway – or from the liquefied natural gas that goes into the terminals – that is partly because Russian gas is fulfilling the demands of central Europe.”But the transport secretary Grant Shapps quickly insisted rationing will not be needed, saying: “ It’s not the route that we want to go down.”Mr Shapps ruled it out as he opposed an expansion of onshore wind turbines, exposing government splits ahead of a long-delayed “energy independence plan”.The renewable energy source is “an eyesore” that creates “noise problems” and the current effective block on construction should be kept in place, he said.The UK announced last month that it will end Russian oil imports by the end of the year, while “exploring options” to end gas imports as well, to punish it for the Ukraine invasion.Boris Johnson has urging EU allies to follow his lead, a task much tougher for the EU, which depends on Russia for 40 per cent of its gas and around a quarter of its oil.However, The Independent revealed Rishi Sunak’s warning that the UK will suffer a £70bn economic hit and be plunged into recession, if Europe acted now – underlining the continent’s independence.Mr Reynolds spoke out as he said the government’s energy plan must not be “simply shopping from one authoritarian regime to the next for fossil fuels”.He called for a “long-term plan on renewables or nuclear and energy efficiency that would make the difference”.“Looking at the images coming out of Ukraine right now, I don’t think we should be talking about going back to business as usual where we just buy large quantities of fossil fuels,” the shadow business secretary said.But, asked if he considered rationing oil and gas a “good idea” for the UK to explore, Mr Shapps replied “No, I don’t.”. Asked if he can rule it out “completely”, he said: “Yes, I can.”Earlier, attacking an expansion of onshore wind turbines, he argued” “They sit on the hills and can create something of an eyesore for communities.” More

The UK could build up to seven new nuclear power stations in a bid to boost its homegrown energy supply in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a cabinet minister has revealed.“There is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK” by 2050, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told The Sunday Telegraph.The newspaper said ministers have agreed to establish a new “development vehicle”, dubbed Great British Nuclear, it hopes will identify sites, slash red tape to speed up the planning process, and bring together private firms to run each site.The government’s opening move is to significantly expand its existing commitment to back one large-scale nuclear power station by 2024, set to be announced by Boris Johnson.It follows reports over the last few weeks that the prime minister and Mr Kwarteng had been at odds with chancellor Rishi Sunak over securing funding for new plants.But the newspaper claims that a meeting between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak on Wednesday concluded with a consensus to expand the UK’s existing network of nuclear plants, all but one of which are due to be decommissioned come 2030.Britain’s new energy security strategy, set to be unveiled on Thursday, is expected to commit the government to supporting the construction of at least two new large-scale nuclear plants by 2030, as well as to small modular reactors.The prime minister and the business secretary will then set their sights on more than tripling the country’s existing seven gigawatts of nuclear capacity to 24GW by 2050, the newspaper continues.Mr Kwarteng said of France, which now relies on nuclear power for the majority of its electricity: “It has cost a fortune, but it has given them a measure of independence which is envied, frankly, by other people on the continent, by the Germans, for example, and the Italians.”The Telegraph was also told by another source that the prime minister hosted a roundtable last week with renewable energy firms to urge industry bosses to build a “colossal” offshore windfarm in the Irish Sea within the next year.Mr Johnson is said to have told those present that he has “a dream” that a giant floating windfarm could produce “gigwatts of energy and do it within a year”.A document currently being finalised by Downing Street is expected to push nuclear and offshore wind energy to centre stage following rows stirred up by Mr Kwarteng’s bid to boost onshore windfarms, despite the moratorium imposed under David Cameron’s leadership in 2015.It is anticipated the move will raise the prospect of relaxing planning laws in England, making it easier to erect turbines on land.But in the face of opposition, Mr Kwartend accepted: “Any movement has to have a large measure of consent.” More

A Conservative MP has been suspended after an investigation was launched into allegations about his behaviour.David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, had the Tory whip removed after formal complaints were made by two women to the parliamentary harassment watchdog.The Telegraph said parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) received a report claiming the MP, who sits on the backbenches, had behaved inappropriately.Both complainants accuse Mr Warburton of unwanted sexual comments and sexual touching, according to The Sunday Times.Mr Warburton denies any wrongdoing. The politician told the newspaper: “I have enormous amounts of defence, but unfortunately the way that things work means that doesn’t come out first.“I have heard nothing whatsoever from the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. I’m sorry, I can’t comment any further.”A spokesperson for the Whips Office said: “David Warburton MP has had the Conservative Party whip removed while the investigation is ongoing.”Mr Warburton has been MP for Somerton and Frome since 2015.The former businessman is chair of the all-party parliamentary group on music and has previously been a member of the European scrutiny committee.He lives near Somerton, in Somerset, with his wife and their two children.The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme was set up in 2019 following the MeToo movement in Westminster.Anyone working in parliament can contact the helpline about incidents of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct. More

Fixing energy-leaking homes and funding wind projects – not nuclear power stations – is key to weaning the UK off Russian gas, a new study says, amid cabinet clashes over policy.Boris Johnson is pushing to get 25 per cent of the UK’s electricity from nuclear power – requiring up to six new power stations – at a cost that is alarming Rishi Sunak, the chancellor.Meanwhile, cabinet rows over relaxing planning rules to lift the block on onshore wind turbines are also holding up a new energy strategy, prompted by the Ukraine crisis.Now an analysis by the climate change think tank E3G says a strategy that “starts at home” is the route to reducing reliance on Vladimir Putin’s gas supplies.Dramatically improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s buildings “could secure an 80 per cent cut in the amount of gas we import from Russia this year”, it is arguing.If combined with government funding for solar and onshore wind projects already in the planning pipeline, “the UK could cut the amount of gas we get from Russia by 100 per cent within a year”.“Energy security starts at home,” said Ed Matthew, E3G’s campaigns director, ahead of the expected release of the “energy independence plan” this week.“By ramping up the energy efficiency of UK buildings and accelerating renewables deployment, the government can take an axe to UK gas demand.“Not only can this help cut household bills, it is the single most effective action the government can take to protect UK and European energy security.”E3G is pointing out that a war-torn Ukraine managed to “unplug from Russia’s electricity grid” within a fortnight, adding: “We should take inspiration from Ukraine’s power engineers.”The government has made little effort to target home energy efficiency, after the shambolic failure of the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme.Instead, Mr Johnson wants to focus on reviving nuclear power, with a mix of big plants and small modular reactors (SMRs), which are easier and cheaper to build.However, the National Infrastructure Commission has warned that large nuclear power plants are “incredibly difficult to deliver on short timescales”.Even if the government gave the go-ahead now, they would not come online until the mid-2040s if they took as long as the current Hinkley Point C project is expected to take.The prime minister’s view on onshore wind is mired in confusion, after he appeared to come out against an expansion when speaking to MPs last week.Despite that, the strategy is expected to trigger a review of the effective moratorium imposed by planning laws introduced under David Cameron’s government.Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has proposed doubling onshore wind turbine power from 14 gigawatts to 30GW by 2030, with the bulk of new projects in Scotland.He is also said to be pushing for the government to go further to hit a target of 45GW of energy from offshore wind by 2035. More

Plans to boost protections for workers are set to be shelved again, despite P&O’s mass sackings of its staff, triggering union protests that they are being “betrayed”.The long-promised Employment Bill will be dropped from next month’s Queen’s Speech, government officials have said – the second successive year it has been put on ice.Back in 2019, a government-ordered review into the flouting of rules in low-paid sectors warned of a growing risk of exploitation amid changes to the immigration system after Brexit.The Conservatives also promised to make flexible working “the default unless employers have good reasons not to”, an issue which has become more pressing because of Covid.But one official, asked if the Bill will go forward in May, told The Financial Times: “Not everything we want to do can we find space for in one season; we can’t do everything we want to do immediately.”A furious Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: “Time and time again, the prime minister said he would bring in new laws to protect and enhance workers’ rights.“But Boris Johnson looks to have broken his word yet again by failing to deliver the employment bill. Make no mistake – this would be a betrayal of working people.“What happened at P&O should have marked a turning point for workers’ rights. But by abandoning the employment bill, the government is sending a message that it is happy for rogue employers to treat staff like dirt.”Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said the legislation is badly needed because of “outrage over working conditions in UK factories and warehouses”.“After the scandal of P&O it’s even more urgent. Instead the government are breaking another promise. You can’t trust a word they say,” she warned.Last year, Matthew Taylor quit as director of Labour Market Enforcement, attacking the government’s failure to act on workers’ rights as a mixture of “inertia and incompetence”.He protested that his report calling for action in sectors including agriculture, social care, construction and hand car washes was being allowed to gather dust.The Bill would aim to deliver more predictable contracts, a single agency to enforce worker rights and protection for pregnant employees, as well as extend flexible working.Staff already have the right to “request” flexible working if they have worked for the same employer for 26 weeks – but the “good reasons” for employers to block requests is not defined.Downing Street is understood to have overruled the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has been pushing for the legislation to go forward.A government spokesperson did not deny the Bill will be shelved, but told The Financial Times it is committed to “ensuring workers’ rights are robustly protected while also fostering a dynamic and flexible labour market”. More

Almost 300,000 disabled people are losing government help to cut their fuel costs just as bills rocket to record levels, in a move branded “an insult” by campaigners.Tighter eligibility rules will remove the flagship warm homes discount from the claimants of a clutch of disability benefits, because their incomes are judged to be too high.Ministers argue the shake-up of the scheme will better target fuel poverty, delivering help to an extra 160,000 people with a long-term illness or disability – while hiking payments by £10 to £150.But they have rejected pleas to continue help for claimants of disability living allowance (DLA) and personal independence payments (PIP), regardless of income, because they all face higher living costs.A government document reads: “Our latest modelling estimates that there will be a reduction in the number of rebate recipients who receive DLA or PIP by 290,000 or 35 per cent.”Louise Rubin, head of policy at the disability equality charity Scope called the decision “an insult to those disabled people who have already been cutting back for months”.The discount will be removed next winter – as the typical annual fuel is tipped to hit around £3,000, on the back of the £693 rise, to almost £2,000, landing on doormats this month.“Amid the worst cost of living crisis in decades, it’s almost unfathomable that the government will cut support for rising energy bills from nearly 300,000 disabled people,” Ms Rubin said.“Life costs more if you’re disabled. Our energy helpline is now overwhelmed with calls from disabled people who are already facing sky-high energy bills – and do not know how they will afford to charge vital equipment, or stay warm, as the crisis goes on.”Disability Rights UK called the move “appalling”, its chief executive Kamran Mallick said: “Disabled people often need more hot water, more heating, and more energy to run specialist equipment.“Far too many people are already having to choose between heating and eating. Benefits are nowhere near in line with inflation as it is. This move may push people over the edge.”The decision comes as a cabinet minister admits a separate £200 payment to all households this autumn will “a loan” – after Rishi Sunak repeatedly rejected the description.But the Department for Business is arguing that most of the disabled claimants who will miss out are “less at risk of fuel poverty, if at all”.The median income of DLA and PIP recipients is around £14,400, it said – but the “low-income criteria” of the new rules would help people taking home only about £11,510.The overall shake-up – removing the need to apply for payments and including customers of all energy firms, regardless of how small – would benefit 780,000 pensioner and low-income families. More

The overhaul of the Human Rights Act has been branded “racist” over a plan to strip protections from people who have been targeted by stop and search and immigration laws.The alarm is being raised over Dominic Raab’s plan for past “conduct” to be taken into account when claims are brought for rights violations, with a warning it will disproportionately hit ethnic minority groups.These groups are far more likely to be stopped by the police or questioned over their immigration status, and therefore arrested, fined or detained, the campaign group Liberty said. Most of the names kept on the Gangs Violence Matrix, a Metropolitan Police database, are those of young black men.Now Liberty is demanding a rethink as ministers prepare to plough ahead with watering down the landmark 1998 Act through a Bill in next month’s Queen’s Speech.“Migrants, prisoners and people with historic ‘poor conduct’ won’t get the same rights as those with citizenship, or without a criminal record, which will have racist impacts”, Martha Spurrier, the organisation’s director, told The Independent.“It will put over-policed communities at risk of losing their rights – even though these are the groups most likely to face a human rights violation by the state.”The warning comes as Liberty warns the shake-up is far more draconian than expected, something obscured in recent months by public focus on Covid, Partygate and the Ukraine war.Injustices such as the Hillsborough tragedy and the failure to investigate ‘black cab rapist’ John Worboys may have never been exposed if the curbs were already in place, it fears.The crackdown will also block attempts to enforce human rights even before they reach a courtroom, despite “terrible abuses” being revealed only once a legal case starts.Mr Raab has claimed his plans will protect free speech from “wokery and political correctness” – but campaigners believe that is a smokescreen masking “a full-on assault” on human rights, through:* Curbs on ‘positive obligations’, requiring the state to take proactive steps to protect rights – the mechanism that delivered justice in the Hillsborough and Worboys cases.* A ‘permission stage’ – that would shut down claims at the start without proof of “significant disadvantage”.* The plan to take into account ‘the conduct of claimants’ – even actions many years in the past, with no link to alleged mistreatment by a public authority.Ms Spurrier added: “The Conservative Party said it would “update” the Human Rights Act, but the proposals brought forward go far beyond an update and are much worse than we feared.“They constitute nothing less than a full-on assault on our rights – creating a two-tier system where only some people are deserving of rights and making it much harder for people who have had their rights breached to get justice.”The criticisms come after Amnesty International accused ministers of the danger of “aligning themselves with authoritarian regimes around the world” by watering down the Human Rights Act.The Law Society has warned of the damage to “the UK’s reputation as a committed member of the international community of rights-respecting nations”.Fears were raised from the moment Mr Raab – who was recorded, in 2009, saying: “I don’t support the Human Rights Act” – was handed the justice brief in his cabinet demotion last September.A few weeks later, he was attacked for misrepresenting the case of “a drug dealer convicted of beating his ex-partner” to claim the Act was being abused.Mr Raab argues that creating a British Bill of Rights will wrestle back “parliament’s role as the ultimate decision-maker” from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.It will be easier to deport asylum seekers claiming the right to a family life to stay in the UK – but a threat to withdraw from the ECHR altogether has been dropped.The Ministry of Justice declined to respond to the criticisms, but argued the overhaul will “strengthen essential rights, particularly freedom of expression, while preventing abuses and giving judges the flexibility and powers they need”. More