Portsmouth City Council leader says Kwasi Kwarteng must step aside from 'murky' Aquind decision over 'smell of corruption'

THE plan for an interconnector coming ashore at Portsmouth has been branded ‘murky’ by the city council leader who said there is a ‘smell of corruption about it’.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson has written to the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng asking him to play no part in refusing or approving Aquind’s £1.2bn undersea cable proposal. The cable would run from France to Eastney, and then underground to Lovedean.

A decision on the plan is due by October 21 by Mr Kwarteng, who said on the BBC’s Marr show on Sunday he would rely on official advice.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But as reported, he also said he had never commented specifically on the project. Letters from him previously released publicly show in March 2020 he wrote to Aquind’s director Alexander Temerko while a business minister.

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson speaking at a Let's Stop Aquind protest. Picture: Sam StephensonCllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson speaking at a Let's Stop Aquind protest. Picture: Sam Stephenson
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson speaking at a Let's Stop Aquind protest. Picture: Sam Stephenson

In the letter he said: ‘Please be reassured our support for the project remains.’

Now Cllr Vernon-Jackson has asked Mr Kwarteng to recuse himself from the decision, as did energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan who received a £2,500 donation from Aquind in 2020. Lord Callanan, a business minister, was a non-executive director at the firm until 2017 and will also play no part in the decision.

In his letter, the council leader said: ‘Clearly, when you were speaking on the Andrew Marr Show you had either forgotten that you had written in those terms or were not telling the truth, as you have not only commented on the Aquind project but written to the director of the company to say you support Aquind.

Read More
Business secretary grilled by BBC's Andrew Marr refuses to say if Conservatives ...
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘I therefore think the people of Portsmouth are owed an apology that you did not tell the truth when interviewed, and that you need to remove yourself from any part in the decision on Aquind as you have been shown to have prejudged the decision in favour of donors to your political party.

‘The more I see of this murky proposal the more people tell me that this has the smell of corruption about it, and we do not need Kremlin style politics here.

‘For the good of all involved in politics, it is important that there can be no impression given that planning permission is on sale in the UK. I therefore urge you to remove yourself from this decision.’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A spokesman for Aquind said it is a UK-registered company whose directors and shareholders ‘are all British citizens’ and they ‘ fully comply with all relevant laws and regulations’.

He added: ‘Aquind’s Development Consent Order application has gone through a comprehensive examination led by independent examiners. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and defamatory.’

The plan has been ‘carefully designed’ to minimise damage to the environment and communities, he said, and it would create 500 jobs in the UK.

He added the interconnector will transmit up to five per cent of Britain’s electricity, and help in the south east of England where demand is higher than generation. It will save people money on bills, and cut carbon emissions, he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been approached by The News.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

We’ve reduced the cost of digital subscriptions to our website by 50 per cent for a limited time.

You can now subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, for less than 13p a day.