Barker shakes off critics

Climate Change Minister Greg Barker put up a weak defence when faced with accusations he and his department were responsible for a “shambolic” Feed-in Tariff policy, which was ruled unlawful […]

Climate Change Minister Greg Barker put up a weak defence when faced with accusations he and his department were responsible for a “shambolic” Feed-in Tariff policy, which was ruled unlawful this week.

Speaking on Channel 4 News Mr Barker blamed the “solar gold rush” that took place over the last few months and defended his decision to halve the subsidy rate: “If I didn’t put the brakes on very quickly we would have completely bust the entire four-year budget.”

Yesterday the Energy Select Committee slated DECC for its poor handling of the situation, which some have said could have a fatal impact on the industry. This came as a High Court judge, Mr Justice Mitting, said the department was “proposing to make an unlawful decision.”

Greg Barker however remained firm in his defence: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing but the number of voices to act sooner could be counted on the fingers of one hand.”

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