A Tory minister has confidently claimed that “British wind” will power the UK’s new offshore power projects, and help the nation’s home run on renewable energy.
Paul Scully, a minister at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, made the bizarre assertion in an interview with Sky News, in which he was seeking to promote a new government pledge of £95 million in funding for offshore wind farms in northwest England.
“This is the start of building back greener,” he proclaimed. “This is the start of 6,000 jobs in the UK, using British jobs, British manufacturing, and of course British wind to power UK homes with renewable energy by 2030.”
Needless to say, his patriotic promises sparked hilarity among the watching public.
Earlier on Thursday, Scully defended Shaun Bailey, the Tory candidate for London mayor, who has been accused of politicising the disappearance of Sarah Everard.
Bailey has faced criticism after he said his wife and daughter “have to live in fear” in the capital but vowed to work to “deliver for the safety of women and girls” if he wins in May.
Liberal Democrat rival Luisa Porritt called the comments “utterly grotesque” following the disappearance of 33-year-old Everard, while Labour MP Catherine West said: “This is really not the time for cheap, political point scoring.”
But, asked if Bailey had used the case as “political capital”, Scully told Sky News: “Shaun Bailey has a plan for London in terms of giving the leadership on crime, on housing, on transport and air quality.
“The first thing people want to be is safe in their homes and Shaun has been doing a lot of work around (that).
“But we shouldn’t be distracted from the fact that there is a serious crime that’s gone on here.”
Related: This time last year: Tory MP tells Rory Stewart to stop ‘sensationalising’ coronavirus
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