UK Ministers Appear to Disagree on Wind Power

Two British government ministers are reported to have clashed over wind power.

Popular newspaper The Daily Mail says John Hayes, the junior energy minister, declared that there had been enough wind power development, and wind turbines were now “peppered around the country”.

The paper quoted Mr Hayes as saying “Enough is enough”.

However the senior energy minister, Ed Davey, rebuked his colleague. Mr Davey issued a statement insisting that the government had no immediate plans to limit wind power development.

Mr Davey is a Liberal Democrat, the junior partner in the British coalition government, while Mr Hayes belongs to the majority Conservative Party.

“There has been no change to Government policy on renewable energy, as collectively agreed by the Coalition Cabinet,” his statement said. "Onshore wind is one of the cheapest renewables, which is why we've been able to cut the subsidy. It has an important role to play in our future," he said.

The Energy Secretary stressed no targets or caps are being applied to wind farms.