Reform UK declares war on Lincolnshire’s net-zero projects

Reform UK leaders in Lincolnshire say they have “declared war” on green energy projects.

Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, Greater Lincolnshire’s mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns and Councillor Sean Matthews, who leads the county council, launched a campaign at a press conference held in Boston earlier.

They said they opposed wind and solar farms and battery storage facilities, with Tice adding: “It is an absolute outrage what the madness of net stupid zero is doing to our county, as well as to our country.”

The government said green energy was vital in delivering energy security, while Labour MP Melanie Onn argued Reform’s stance posed a risk to thousands of jobs.

A number of what are termed “nationally significant infrastructure projects” are planned for the county, including large-scale solar farms and a corridor of pylons between Grimsby and Walpole, in Norfolk.

The fate of such projects will be decided by ministers, not by local councils.

Tice told the conference their LORE campaign (Lincolnshire opposes renewable eyesores) would use “every lever available” to stop these developments.

He also claimed the government’s net-zero plans were to blame for high electricity prices in the UK.

The government said energy bills had risen because of the country’s “reliance on volatile gas markets”.

During the conference, Dame Andrea compared the fight against green energy to that of Bomber Command, which was based in the county during World War Two.

She said she wanted to “unleash the spirit of Lincolnshire” against “the planned desecration of our countryside”.

The mayor said: “We are the bread basket that feeds Britain, so I ask why would any government put out nation’s food security in jeopardy because of mass-scale solar farms?”

The government has said brownfield sites and lower-grade land should be preferred for solar farms and “even in the most ambitious scenarios” the total area used would occupy up to 0.4% of UK land by 2030.

However, Jenkyns claimed net-zero was “a con” and argued that oil and gas were the answer to the UK’s energy needs.

Echoing the words of US president Donald Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign, she said “come 2029”, when Reform UK hopes to win a general election, it would be “drill baby drill”.

Onn, the MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, said Reform’s decision to “pit themselves” against a sector which currently employed about 12,500 people in Greater Lincolnshire – “and risking their jobs” – was “completely at odds” with the role of a directly elected mayor, which was to “improve economic growth for their local areas”.

A spokesperson for the government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Families have seen their energy bills go through the roof due to our reliance on volatile gas markets controlled by dictators like Putin.

“Solar and an upgraded grid is central to our mission to become a clean energy superpower, delivering energy security so we can get bills down for good.”