MP's Aquind petition grows to 3,500 as Portsmouth council leader writes to business secretary

MP Stephen Morgan said 'time is running out' to show the strength of feeling against the project set to bring power from the continent to Britain via Eastney.

Conservative business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is set to make a decision by September 8 as to whether the scheme can go ahead.

As reported, Aquind has donated thousands to Tory politicians - some of whom have recused themselves from making a decision.

Now Mr Morgan said it is 'now or never' to protest the 'disastrous project'.

He said: 'I am pleased that so many people have backed my call on government to stop Aquind, but there’s more to do and time is running out.

'We need to show ministers the full strength of Portsmouth’s opposition to these damaging proposals, which threaten our day-to-day lives.

'It’s now or never if we are going to stop this disastrous project, so I urge all Portsmouth residents to keep signing the petition.'

He hopes to present the petition for a debate in the House of Commons after parliamentary recess ends.

The Let's Stop Aquind campaign has urged people to sign the petition.

Mr Morgan's comments come as Portsmouth City Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson wrote to Mr Kwarteng urging him to consider the 'national security case for refusing' Aquind.

In his letter, he said: 'I have a real concern that the UK could become dependent on power coming from France and could end up in a position where they have no control over the supply of this power.

'This might be a small and potentially unlikely situation, but the supply of electricity to homes in Portsmouth should now be under British control rather than a country where we no longer have leverage by belonging to the same European club.'

Asked previously about any future situation in which France could threaten to cut off power, an Aquind spokesman said the country was a 'reliable energy partner' with IFA and IFA2 interconnectors already in place.

He said the interconnector would contribute to the decarbonisation objections of the UK, the European Union and France.

Aquind directors Richard Glasspool and Alexander Temerko have denied donations gain the company any political influence.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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