Reform UK leaders in Lincolnshire have stated they are “declared war” on green energy projects.
Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, Greater Lincolnshire’s mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns, and Councillor Sean Matthews, leader of the county council, launched a campaign at a press conference held in Boston earlier.
They voiced their opposition to wind and solar farms, as well as battery storage facilities, with Tice adding: “It is an absolute outrage what the madness of net stupid zero is doing to our county, as well as to our country.”
The government maintains that green energy is vital for delivering energy security, while Labour MP Melanie Onn argued Reform’s stance poses a risk to thousands of jobs.
A number of “nationally significant infrastructure projects” are planned for the county, including large-scale solar farms and a corridor of pylons between Grimsby and Walpole, in Norfolk.
The fate of such projects will be determined by ministers, not local councils.
Tice told the conference their LORE campaign (Lincolnshire opposes renewable eyesores) would use “every lever available” to halt these developments.
He also asserted that the government’s net-zero plans are to blame for high electricity prices in the UK.
The government countered that energy bills have risen because of the country’s “reliance on volatile gas markets”.
During the conference, Dame Andrea likened the fight against green energy to that of Bomber Command, which was based in the county during World War Two.
She stated her desire to “unleash the spirit of Lincolnshire” against “the planned desecration of our countryside”.
The mayor commented: “We are the bread basket that feeds Britain, so I ask why would any government put out nation’s food security in jeopardy because of mass-scale solar farms?”
The government has indicated that brownfield sites and lower-grade land should be prioritized for solar farms and “even in the most ambitious scenarios” the total area used would occupy up to 0.4% of UK land by 2030.
However, Jenkyns claimed net-zero was “a con” and argued that oil and gas were the answer to the UK’s energy needs.
Echoing the words of US president Donald Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign, she said “come 2029”, when Reform UK hopes to win a general election, it would be “drill baby drill”.
Onn, the MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, stated that Reform’s decision to “pit themselves” against a sector which currently employed about 12,500 people in Greater Lincolnshire – “and risking their jobs” – was “completely at odds” with the role of a directly elected mayor, which was to “improve economic growth for their local areas”.
A spokesperson for the government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Families have seen their energy bills go through the roof due to our reliance on volatile gas markets controlled by dictators like Putin.
“Solar and an upgraded grid is central to our mission to become a clean energy superpower, delivering energy security so we can get bills down for good.”
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