September 22, 2013
U.K.

Sir Jeremy Heywood “called in to defuse wind farm row”

By Rhiannon Williams | Telegraph | 22 Sep 2013 | www.telegraph.co.uk

Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood was forced to intervene following arguments between Ed Davey and Owen Paterson over wind farm technology, according to Liberal Democrat sources.

The Tory Environment Secretary Mr Paterson has been accused of lying over claims the Climate Change Secretary had prevented a report alleging that on-shore wind farms can harm rural areas.

Mr Paterson’s office has denied the allegation and Mr Heywood’s involvement in trying to defuse the situation between the pair. Aides have also denied Sir Jeremy’s involvement, describing the intervention as “completely untrue”.

The Lib Dem sources maintain that Mr Paterson has interfered in Mr Davey’s green energy agenda, according to the Mail on Sunday , saying that the Environment Secretary and other Tory ‘climate-change deniers’ have cast doubt on the necessity of on-shore wind firms. Mr Davey is said to have called on Sir Jeremy to remind Mr Paterson that climate policy remains the remit of the Climate Change Secretary.

A source said: “Ed called in the Cabinet Office to get Paterson off his back and sort who was in charge of what.

“Paterson was told that despite his environmental brief, tackling global warming was specifically our bag and not his.”

Claims Mr Davey was supressing an official report detailing the detrimental effect on wind farms on the countryside were said to anger Mr Paterson, who alleged vowed to publish the report. Mr Davey’s department has insisted that he had never seen the incomplete report.

In a speech at the Lib Dem conference last week, Mr Davey mocked Mr Paterson, who is in charge of the badger cull, saying his party had denied Conservative plans to scale back environmental measures.

He said: “Owen Paterson would cull wind turbines faster than he can cull badgers. But we have prevented the Stone Age wing of the Conservative Party from destroying our leading renewables industry.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/09/22/sir-jeremy-heywood-called-in-to-defuse-wind-farm-row/