Today, Radio 4, 28 June 2018

Complaint

The programme included an interview with Lord Deben on progress in reducing UK emissions in which he said 鈥渨hat on earth is the Government doing saying that even where a community wants to have an onshore wind farm it can鈥檛 have it?鈥.聽 The Global Warming Policy Foundation complained that this gave the misleading impression that communities were no longer able to build onshore wind farms.聽 It also questioned Lord Deben鈥檚 statement that onshore wind farms were the cheapest form of electricity production.


Outcome

According to the formula used by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, onshore wind farms are currently the cheapest form of electricity production.聽 However, while legislation enacted in 2016 had restricted the scope for new onshore windfarms, the suggestion that the Government had prevented communities from having them was inaccurate.
Partly upheld


Further action

The team has been alerted to the finding and reminded of the need to have the facts at hand to put to an interviewee in the course of a live interview on a complex subject.