Keir Starmer admitted he would have to “get some communities on board” after Rishi Sunak reinstated a ban lifted by Liz Truss on new land projects amid fears of local objections. The Labor leader has already pledged to double the amount of onshore wind, one of the cheapest and fastest sources of renewable energy, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030, creating more than 100,000 jobs in the sector and a wider supply chain. Wind farms, effectively banned by David Cameron in 2015, have been controversial in some of the communities where they are located. But during a visit to a wind farm in Lincolnshire on Thursday, Starmer pledged to tackle the nimbleism on the issue, saying his government would “not hesitate to get its head around the choice that needs to be made” by relaxing the design constraints for onshore wind turbines. After meeting industry leaders, workers and apprentices, Starmer argued that the economic potential of onshore and offshore wind power was too great and “should not be sacrificed on the altar of the electoral woes of the Conservative party”. Instead, he said, Labor would lift the planning ban on onshore wind “because politics is about choices”. He added: “If this option means that some communities have to adapt to a new landscape so that we can create tens of thousands of good quality jobs, I will not hesitate to do that.” Proposed planning changes for onshore wind include removing the loophole that allows an individual’s objection to stop an application, aligning planning requirements with other infrastructure. There would also be tough new targets to reduce planning decisions for renewable energy from years to months and a crackdown on Whitehall-blocking developments, as well as a requirement to proactively identify land for renewables. Labor claims its planned investment in wind power, both from the private sector and the new state-owned company Great British Energy, will save taxpayers £93bn in cheaper energy bills, of which almost £16bn will come from onshore wind energy. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Truss and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, had promised to change planning rules so giant turbines could be more easily deployed in the countryside. But like much of their doomed development plan, which also included lifting the ban on fracking, it was rejected by her successors. Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden confirmed the rules requiring local planning consent would remain in place as it was important to strike the right balance between “recognizing local sentiment” and investing in offshore renewables. It comes after Sunak’s incredible stance on attending the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, saying he would attend in order to “galvanize” world leaders to save the planet. The prime minister also adopted exactly the same renewable energy language that Starmer has been using for months, saying he now wanted to turn the UK into a “clean energy superpower”.
