News
Conrad Duncan
Mar 11, 2021
A Conservative minister has sparked confusion after proudly asserting that the UK’s new offshore wind power projects will use “British wind” to power homes with renewable energy
Paul Scully made the comment on Sky News this morning as he promoted the government’s £95m funding pledge for offshore wind projects in parts of northwest England.
He told Sky News:
“This is the start of building back greener. This is the start of 6,000 jobs in the UK, using British jobs, British manufacturing, and of course British wind to power UK homes with renewable energy by 2030.”
Paul Scully tells Sky News that we're going to use "British wind" to power UK homes with renewable energy. 😂 https://t.co/L3zsyNli6h— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺) 1615448006
Brexit voters will no doubt be delighted to know that the government is prioritising “British wind” now that we’ve left the European Union but Scully’s comments raise some important questions:
1) How does British wind differ from European wind or any other wind for that matter? And 2) is the move to use only British wind to power our homes a specific achievement of this Conservative government?
In the interest of transparency and accountability, Indy100 has put these questions to the minister and we are patiently awaiting his response.
It’s already an issue that is energising voters, who are rightly concerned about the possibility of foreign wind coming into our country without checks:
@mm_tw9 @Haggis_UK More importantly, how will you send the Danish, Icelandic, Spanish wind back to its original cou… https://t.co/80Ik2kjyqf— Elise Flynn (@Elise Flynn) 1615449890
@Haggis_UK The only flaw in Paul Scully's plan is the rumour that Priti Patel has heard that much of this wind ente… https://t.co/0SP0Ip63SX— Mark Elliott (@Mark Elliott) 1615454908
@Haggis_UK But we’ll be using all the British wind - what will happen when it runs out? We will have to import infe… https://t.co/QS4tPL1jMZ— fluffyorca #FBPE #BoycottPalmOil 🇪🇺🇬🇧💙 (@fluffyorca #FBPE #BoycottPalmOil 🇪🇺🇬🇧💙) 1615450154
In related news, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing pressure from trade unions to uphold his campaign pledge to renationalise British wind after the country’s weather was given over to the private sector under the Thatcher government of the 1980s…
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