Reform launches 'war' on net zero projects in Lincolnshire
Reform leaders in Lincolnshire have launched a "war" on the government's net-zero policies and renewable energy projects in the county.
At a joint press conference, Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Andrea Jenkyns and Lincolnshire County Council leader Sean Matthews unveiled a campaign to oppose the "devastation caused by net-stupid-zero".
Mr Tice said: "It's also a war against high energy prices, and it's a war against the blight of our countryside, our beloved countryside here in Lincolnshire and beyond."
The campaign, branded Lincolnshire Opposes Renewable Eyesores (LORE), opposes major developments of solar panels, battery storage facilities and pylons.
Among the projects criticised by Reform is a scheme to introduce 140km of new overhead power lines from Grimsby and Walpole.
The plans would bring electricity generated offshore on wind farms into the main grid.
'The number of solar factories is scandalous'
Speaking at Boston United Football Club Cllr Matthews it was "nothing more than government vandalism of our beautiful countryside".
He added: "There is no good reason for these cables on the shore, and so I say to National Grid, keep them in the sea and keep them outside of Lincolnshire."
There are currently eight "nationally significant" proposals for solar farms across Lincolnshire covering an area of about 30 square miles.
The plans are part of Labour's strategy for the UK to become carbon neutral by 2050. The government says the plans will create 138,000 jobs across Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands.
Cllr Matthews added: "The size and number of the solar factories planned across Lincolnshire is scandalous. If they all went ahead, they would cover tens of thousands of acres of prime food-producing land."
Labour's Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP said: 'Nigel Farage's war on clean energy is a war on nearly 138,000 jobs across the region. Working people from Boston to Hull would lose jobs and opportunities if Reform was ever allowed to impose its anti-jobs, anti-growth ideology on the country.
'Reform UK's energy surrender plan would leave bills high for families and businesses, keeping the UK stuck on the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets. Farage only offers anger but no answers – and it would hammer family finances.
'Labour was elected to deliver real change for communities, and we are securing the good jobs that can boost people's livelihoods and rebuild our country's industrial backbone through our Plan for Change. We won't let Farage and his ideologues stand in the way of these jobs across Yorkshire and the East Midlands.'
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