Finance Secretary rejects call to slash windfarm subsidies

Slashing subsidies for onshore wind power by 50% would deter companies from investing in Scotland, Finance Secretary John Swinney said.

Tory Murdo Fraser urged the Scottish Government to end its “fixation” with onshore wind power as he called for the amount of money the sector receives in government support to be halved.

That call was rejected by Mr Swinney, who said: “The Conservative calls we’ve heard reiterated this afternoon to halve support for onshore wind are arbitrary, they are based on politics not economics and they will scare renewable investors from investing in the Scottish market.”

Mr Fraser, however, claimed the focus on wind power was “causing consternation in our rural communities” as well as driving up electricity bills.

“Undoubtedly, part of the historic rise in energy prices has been increases in the cost of fossil fuel.

“But today, right now, the fastest rising component of the energy bill is not wholesale costs but the various government levies to subsidise renewable energy and other projects.”