I'm launching a campaign for food not solar. Here's why:
If we want Britain to lead in the industries of the future, from artificial intelligence to the data centres powering our digital lives, we must face the reality that we need more electricity. As a nation, we are rightfully ambitious. We want high-skilled jobs, a booming economy and lower bills for families. To get there, we need a grid capable of meeting demand that will only grow.
Solar power can have a role to play. It is quick to deploy and can provide useful supplementary capacity. But in our rush to build, we risk a catastrophic strategic error by allowing developers to take the path of least resistance, carpeting our countryside in glass and metal at the expense of one of our most fundamental resources, the land that feeds us.
That is why I am imminently launching a campaign to stop solar farm development on Best and Most Versatile agricultural land.
Residents across rural Britain increasingly find themselves on the frontline of this battle, told by developers we face a binary choice to sacrifice our fields to solar arrays or fail to meet our energy targets. This is nonsense.
We have seen this play out locally. Last year, a solar farm was approved at Eden Farm near Old Malton, affecting the Sturdy family who have farmed that land for generations. This is precisely the kind of decision that puts short-term convenience ahead of long-term food security and destroys the fabric of our rural communities.
The primary duty of any government is the security of its people. That means energy security, yes, but also food security. We live in an increasingly volatile world. COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine showed us how fragile global supply chains can be. We cannot assume we can import whatever we need, whenever we need it.
When we concrete over Grade 1, 2, or 3a farmland, our "Best and Most Versatile" land, we lose it for generations. We drive up the price of remaining acres, squeezing farmers and making it harder for the next generation to enter agriculture. We are effectively outsourcing food production to other countries, increasing our carbon footprint through imports whilst claiming to lower it at home. It is a logic that eats itself.
This campaign is not anti-renewables but rather anti-stupidity. We should be putting solar panels on thousands of roofs of south-facing schools, prisons, hospitals and industrial buildings currently un-utilised and we should be prioritising land that cannot be used for anything else.
We must look to innovation rather than simply swallowing up green fields. This week, I wrote to the Chief Executive of Yorkshire Water urging them to consider Floating Solar Photovoltaics. The technology exists to place solar arrays on reservoir surfaces. Studies show that covering just a fraction of the UK's reservoirs could generate massive amounts of power without touching a single blade of grass. The water cools the panels, making them more efficient than field-based installations. This is the smart, "dead space" utilisation we should be championing.
If we can generate power on water, rooftops and wasteland, there is no excuse for industrialising the prime arable land of North Yorkshire.
However, we must be honest about solar's limits. The sun does not always shine, and in the depth of a Yorkshire winter, we cannot run a G7 economy on intermittent power alone. We should not be destroying our landscape for a technology that only works part-time.
The Government could reduce energy bills for families and businesses by 20 per cent if Ministers adopted the Cheap Power Plan: scrap the carbon tax on electricity generation, end subsidies for renewables and renegotiate the minimum prices agreed for new wind power. The UK was the world's first civil nuclear nation, and advanced nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors must be part of our future energy mix if we are to remain a world leader.
Farming is a tough, low-margin business and the promise of guaranteed rental income can look like a lifeline. However, we cannot build a rural strategy on farmers ceasing to farm. We need to ensure agriculture itself is profitable and sustainable, so our growers are not forced to sell to energy companies just to survive. We need a planning system that protects food producers from predatory development, ensuring that the "Best and Most Versatile" classification actually means something in practice.
The rolling hills and productive fields of Yorkshire are not just scenery, they are a working factory floor putting food on our tables and a vital part of the local tourist economy. They are the backbone of our rural economy and a vital buffer for our natural environment.
We can keep the lights on without turning the countryside off. We can embrace the industries of the future without destroying our heritage. I will fight to ensure our region does its fair share for energy, but not at the expense of our farmers, food security and rural beauty.
