Political Agenda: ‘The PM will be reluctant to pick any fight she can avoid’

The stifling heat in central ­London has no doubt contributed to the fractious mood that has consumed Parliament over the past week as the summer session hurtles to its conclusion.

Ministers were so desperate to get it over that they tried to bring forward the end of term date, a move that looked set to backfire as Utility Week went to press following a wave of opposition from Conservative MPs.
Some bullets have been bitten since Parliament last reconvened after its Easter break, notably on the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.

But while some items have been cleared, the in-tray is still filling up. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) laid out a series of steps last month that it says the government must make if it wants to achieve its long-term carbon reduction plans. Its chair Lord Deben also called on the government to spell out the costs of its ban on onshore wind and solar farms.
A poll published this week showed a clear majority of ­voters back a lifting of the ban on onshore windfarms. The one group that really dislikes the idea though is the Conservative grassroots support in the Shires, who have been so inflamed by Theresa May’s concessions to the soft Brexit lobby.

In her current vulnerable position, the PM will be reluctant to pick any fight she can avoid. And business secretary Greg Clark’s attention will be focused this autumn on fighting the pro-soft Brexit corner within the Cabinet. But the sweltering heat is a reminder that the onshore wind issue can’t be ducked forever.