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Ed Miliband accused of 'simply reckless' plot to crush UK farmers in 'massive' land grab

2024-08-21 00:00:00.0 每日快报-政治原网页

Ed Miliband has been accused of implementing a 'simply reckless' plan (Image: GETTY/ADAM GERRARD)

Ed Miliband has been accused of implementing a “simply reckless” plan by launching a “massive” land grab that could devastate UK farmers.

Labour’s Energy Secretary has come under fire for the speed at which he is rolling out a manifesto commitment to revolutionise the UK’s energy supply over the next six years.

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He said: “Both food security and energy security are essential parts of national security.

“That’s why our best agricultural land should be used for its core purpose of food production, with solar sited on rooftops wherever possible or on less productive land.”

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Ed Miliband has pledged to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind (Image: Getty)

Sir Keir Starmer at a clean energy site in Pencader, South Wales, with the First Minister of Wales (Image: PA)

Mr Barclay went on to criticise Sir Keir Starmer’s Minister of State for Energy for letting slip the Government had no idea how much farmland would be lost to controversial energy projects.

Conservative Lord Mott had asked the Government in a written Parliamentary question: “What estimate they have made of the amount of [high-grade agricultural land] that will be used to deliver their pledge to double onshore wind and triple solar power by 2030.”

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, the Minister of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) responded on August 1 that “the Government does not set a prescriptive approach” before adding: “As such, it does not hold this information.”

The Labour Peer added: “Current planning policies guide developments away from using Best and Most Versatile agricultural land where possible.

“Developers will submit information on land use and classification when seeking planning consent, and this information will be taken into account by decision-makers.”

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Responding, Mr Barclay said: “For Labour to press ahead with a massive expansion of solar without even knowing how much of our best farmland will be taken out of production is simply reckless.

“Any claim they make to value food security is hollow.”

It comes as Sir Keir’s Labour pledges to work closely on realising the benefits of a publicly-owned energy company, GB Energy, which has been allocated ￡8.3billion of funding over the next five years.

The Government-backed firm has been tasked with developing future offshore wind projects as part of moves to hasten the UK's transition to renewable energy.

On Tuesday Sir Keir visited a clean energy site in Pencader, South Wales, with the First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan.

While there, the PM described green power as a “massive opportunity” for the nation.

He also vowed to do “everything we can” to safeguard jobs in Port Talbot, the seaside town where Tata Steel UK is set to close a blast furnace in September as part of a move to electric arc steelmaking, a ￡1.25 billion investment which could cut direct CO2 emissions by 90%.

PM Keir Starmer with First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan at Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm (Image: PA)

Solar energy farm in Oxfordshire (Image: Getty)

Speaking at the 57.4-megawatt Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm, Sir Keir told journalists: “There's a huge opportunity here for Wales which has got the resources, it's got the natural resources, it's got the shallow seas, and it's got the skilled people here in Wales that can operate this.

“This is a massive opportunity and we intend to work together to take that opportunity on behalf of everybody living in Wales.”

A DESNZ spokesperson said: “These claims wilfully misrepresent what the Minister has said.

“Our planning policies guide solar developments away from using the best and most versatile agricultural land.

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