PM scraps renewable energy targets

Tony Blair has blocked plans to produce a fifth of Britain's electricity from renewable sources, in revenge for his failure to push through a programme of new nuclear power stations.

The Prime Minister has removed a target for generating 20 per cent of the nation's power from the wind,tides and waves by 2020 from the Government's energy White Paper to be published in the next few weeks. Last month he lost a battle for it to include plans to build six nuclear power stations.

Britain has the greatest renewable energy resources in Europe – with 40 per cent of the entire continent's potential for windpower and some of the world's greatest supplies of wave power – but does less to exploit them than any other EU country.

Two years ago Mr Blair promised to end this contradiction. He said: "I want Britain to be a leading player in this coming green industrial revolution".

In cabinet discussions the Treasury opposed the new renewable targets, but was overruled by an alliance of ministers including John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, and Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

They also agreed that no new nuclear power stations should be built in the immediate future. Sources close to Mrs Beckett say that Mr Blair insisted that the renewables target should be scrapped as the price for his accepting this.