The proposals a few weeks ago by the Conservative Party to change the planning regime for on-shore wind turbines, making their installation less likely was an appalling blow to those people who had trusted David Cameron when he claimed “vote blue, get green”. I wrote about that issue previously. This week there is yet another indication that the coalition is no longer interested in supporting the production of renewable energy with speculation that support for large-scale solar installations will be cut by the Government. Leading renewable energy organisations have voiced concerns that another badly handled review of their sector could spook investors and bring uncertainty to Britain’s solar industry. This follows from previous mishaps when subsidies for solar power were cut without warning leading to job losses and lost income for the UK renewable sector. The end result of this is that it will leave us more dependent than ever on the fuels that lead to climate change. The news about this speculation and threat to our environment can be found in this article.

This morning David Cameron was on the Marr show, explaining how he could be relied upon, not only to achieve a better settlement for the UK in Europe, but that he will definitely hold a referendum in 2017 if elected as Prime Minister. Interestingly enough he failed to offer a firm date which is odd as it is hard to imagine the Government setting a date other than the May date for local elections due to cost and the prospect for voter turnout. In any event having promised to support renewable energy, I would far rather have a chance to confirm my support for that, and rejection for the Governments change of heart than for our membership of Europe. He and his team are breaking a promise on renewables just as they did on top down reorganisations of the Health Service. These are the sort of things we should be able to vote about, and now!