Rishi Sunak could back down over an effective ban on new onshore wind farms amid a growing Conservative revolt, a Cabinet Minister has signalled.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps claimed there was "not really a row" between the Government and Tory backbenchers after an amendment to allow more onshore wind attracted support from some 30 Conservatives, including ex PMs Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Mr Shapps said both sides are "saying the same thing" and projects would be allowed to go ahead with local consent, in comments that will be interpreted as a sign the Government is prepared to shift.
In fact, planning laws are so strict that the current system amounts to an effective block on onshore wind.
And Mr Sunak vowed during the summer leadership race never to “relax the ban on onshore wind in England, instead focusing on building more turbines offshore”.
But the Prime Minister has been under pressure to drop the de facto ban following a push by ex-Cabinet Minister Simon Clarke to amend the flagship levelling up bill.
The bill is expected before Parliament ahead of Christmas, with a clash expected over housebuilding targets as well as onshore wind.
Playing down the significance of the revolt, Mr Shapps told Times Radio: "It's the most extraordinarily overwritten story I've read.
"The fact that a backbencher has an amendment in is literally something that happens every single day in Parliament.
"And his amendment, which is saying something like local people should have final say, is actually exactly what Rishi said when he last spoke on it, and indeed what I've said on it in the past."
He added: "It just strikes me it's not really a row.
"We're all basically saying the same thing. You need local consent if you're going to have wind power onshore, because it can be quite a big imposition on the local environment."
Mr Shapps also told Sky News that "to present it as some sort of massive gulf is completely untrue".
The Business Secretary's remarks signal a possible climbdown to avoid a damaging defeat by Tory rebels, made more likely by Labour's backing for the amendment.
Ex-Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry and Alok Sharma, who was COP26 President, are some of the latest senior MPs to add their names to the legislation.
Downing Street claimed he was pointing to existing rules when he spoke about local consent needed for onshore wind developments.
Asked if the Business Secretary was signalling an imminent U-turn, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "You've got our position - I'm sure he's pointing to the rules that are already in place: to allow for consultation."
The spokesman said he would not predict "what might happen in the future" on onshore wind.
Mr Clarke said it was an attempt to "change government policy for the better" rather than a revolt.
He said: "I think my amendment is perfectly fashioned to split the difference, if you like between our current outright ban on onshore wind, which I don't think is either right or sustainable and I think what Labour's position would be which would be to allow onshore wind, but with fewer community consent safeguards."
Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove, who is understood to be backing an end to the moratorium, held "constructive" talks with Tory MPs over the weekend.
Calls for the ending the ban on new onshore wind farms have grown amid efforts to secure the UK's energy independence as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has squeezed supplies.
Greenpeace UK Policy Director Doug Parr said: “It’s taken seven long years, an unprecedented energy crisis and a major rebellion involving two former prime ministers for the government to begin to realise the obvious.
"Onshore wind could have been designed as the perfect solution to the multiple crises we face - it’s a no-brainer.
"We’ve got sky-high energy prices driven by fossil gas, and onshore wind is the cheapest form of power. We have a security issue over gas supplies, and onshore wind needs no fuel but the air moving. And we have a raging climate crisis where onshore wind can cut planet-heating emissions and buy us precious time.
"In the next few days, the government has the opportunity to put facts before ideology and scrap one of the most absurd and damaging policies ever introduced by a UK government.”
The Prime Minister is not only facing a challenge over onshore wind, but on building targets as well.
He was forced to pull a vote on the legislation that would set a target of building 300,000 homes per year when around 50 Tory MPs threatened to rebel.
