Ed Miliband's latest plan immediately backfires with Tory appalled: 'Slap in the face'

An “utterly appalled” Tory MP has accused Ed Miliband of approving a solar farm project while having “complete disregard for community consent”.

Alicia Kearns took aim at the new Energy Secretary who today granted consent for three major new solar farm projects in England, including Mallard Pass Solar Plant which straddles the Lincolnshire and Rutland border.

Ms Kearns, MP for Rutland and Stamford, said: “I am utterly appalled that less than one week into his role, Ed Miliband has approved the Mallard Pass Solar Plant for construction.

“This shows a complete disregard for community consent, contempt for human rights, and a complete failure to understand food security is a national security issue.”

Ms Kearns said: “This is a slap in the face for all those who value human rights, food security, upholding standards in business, and protecting our agricultural land.

“I will be considering the next steps available to us, including judicial review. The Secretary of State did not have the decency to contact me before the decision was posted publicly. 

“I am sorry to all those who have campaigned so hard, for so long, and whose voices today were flagrantly dismissed.”

The three projects have a collective capacity of 1.35GW, enough to power an estimated 424,000 homes

Decisions to grant development consent had been sitting on former energy secretary Claire Coutinho's desk for some time, amid a political backlash against big solar among Tory MPs

All three projects qualify as nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) as it is envisaged that each solar farm will generate more than 50MW of power once constructed.

NSIPs are subject to a special consenting regime in England, where the decision-making powers rest with the secretary of state unless otherwise delegated to local planning authorities.

The Sunnica Energy Farm is to span different sites across East Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk and, according to the developers, will generate enough power for 172,000 homes. 

The Mallard Pass Solar Farm in Lincolnshire is expected to generate around 350MW of renewable energy, which the developers say would power the equivalent of 92,000 UK homes.

The Gate Burton Energy Park project, also in Lincolnshire, is to add 500MW of renewable energy generation capacity to the electricity grid in Britain, which the developers say is enough to power over 160,000 homes.

Ed Miliband said: “Solar power is crucial to achieving net zero, providing an abundant source of cleaner, cheaper energy on the mission towards 2030.

“Some of these cases had been held up for months before I arrived in the department. They were put on my desk on Monday and I’ve made a decision in three days. This is the speed we’re working at to achieve energy independence, cut bills for families and kickstart green economic growth.

“We will make tough decisions with ambition and urgency – all part of our plan to make the UK a clean energy superpower.”