Boris Johnson has launched a somewhat surprising attack on Boris Johnson for "forgetting the history of the UK".
The Prime Minister, who has written books on Churchill and Shakespeare, slammed the Prime Minister for pooh-poohing wind farms.
He will declare in today's Tory conference speech: "I remember how some people used to sneer at wind power, twenty years ago, and say that it wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding.
"They forgot the history of this country. It was offshore wind that puffed the sails of Drake and Raleigh and Nelson, and propelled this country to commercial greatness."
Fortunately, the PM doesn't need to cast his eye back 20 years to find someone "sneering" at wind power.
Only seven years ago, he himself told LBC Radio: " Labour put in a load of wind farms that failed to pull the skin off a rice pudding.
"We now have the opportunity to get shale gas - let's look at it."
Shale gas is better known as fracking and is furiously opposed by environmental campaigners, who say it is damaging and polluting.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak was unable to explain the contradiction when he was challenged on the PM's 2013 comments on LBC Radio.
He said: "I don’t know about then.
"The difference now is wind power, we know it’s clean, but it’s also now cheap and affordable, and it’s something we're very good at in this country.
"We can be a global leader in it. It can be a brand new industry for us, create lots of jobs."
The PM will today announce a green package to support offshore wind farms to help the UK meet its climate targets.
Mr Johnson will pledge that offshore wind will produce enough electricity to power every home in the country by 2030.
He will allocate £160 million to upgrade ports and infrastructure in coastal communities like Teesside and Humber in Northern England.
This new investment will create 2,000 jobs in the short term and help support tens of thousands more, the Government said.
The UK’s offshore wind capacity currently provides 10% of electricity demand and is the largest in the world.
Mr Johnson wants to support new wind farm technology in the North Sea so they can be built in deeper waters where the winds are strongest.
At the Tory party’s virtual conference, he will say: “Our seas hold immense potential to power our homes and communities with low-cost green energy and we are already leading the way in harnessing its strengths.”
