Thursday 4 August 2022 08:19 AM Rishi Sunak accused of 'flip-flop' in favour of new wind farms after previously ... trends now
Rishi Sunak has been accused of making a green energy U-turn in favour of building more countryside wind farms during his leadership campaign.
The former chancellor was accused of a 'flip-flop' after telling a hustings last night he backed relaxing the current moratorium on fresh onshore turbines.
His comments in Cardiff came weeks after he used a newspaper interview to stress he did not want the 2015 ban introduced by David Cameron to be removed.
He is today preparing to face Liz Truss - who is 34 points ahead according to one poll - in what is due to be the final televised debate of the leadership campaign, on Sky News.
The two rivals clashed in Cardiff last night in front of Conservative party members over their differing tax plans, as the Bank of England prepares to make the largest increase in interest rates in 27 years.
A Bank of England announcement is scheduled for noon, with experts warning that inflation could peak at 15 per cent, adding to the already painful cost-of-living crisis with spiralling prices.
Ms Truss has pledged to make £30billion-worth of tax cuts a priority if she enters No10 in September. Mr Sunak has said he will cut taxes, but views tackling inflation as a larger concern.
Ms Truss's plans faced heavyweight criticism today from Lord Lawson, who was chancellor under Margaret Thatcher.
Writing in the Telegraph he said they were 'uncomfortably reminiscent of the missteps of the Tory government of 50 years ago' under Ted Heath.
'We saw the impact of rising prices, crippling the economy and putting millions out of work. Savings were eroded and investment collapsed. I am profoundly concerned that we are in danger of repeating the mistakes of that decade,' he said.
But Ms Truss, who is being endorsed by the Dail Mail, won the backing of another former chancellor, Sajid Javid, last night. He said immediate tax cuts were 'essential'.
The former chancellor was accused of a 'flip-flop' after telling a hustings last night he backed relaxing the current moratorium on fresh onshore turbines.
His comments in Cardiff came weeks after he used a newspaper interview to stress he did not want the 2015 ban introduced by David Cameron to be removed.
He is today preparing to face Liz Truss in what is due to be the final televised debate of the leadership campaign, on Sky News.
Last night in Cardiff Mr Sunak said he would be 'bold enough to scrap the embargo of onshore wind in England'.
But just a fortnight ago he told the Telegraph: 'Wind energy will be an important part of our strategy, but I want to reassure communities that as prime minister I would scrap plans to relax the ban on onshore wind in England, instead focusing on building more turbines offshore'.
A Truss campaign source said: 'Yet again we've seen Rishi flip-flop on a policy commitment.
'He has already U-turned on tax cuts, grammar schools and china, and tonight we've seen him do the same on onshore windfarms.'
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