1,402

of 2,000 signatures

To PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK, CHANCELLOR JEREMY HUNT AND SofS GRANT SHAPPS

The duty of government is to act on the will of the people, defend its citizens and protect democracy. While the threat of the Aquind Interconnector hangs over the people of Portsmouth, you are failing on all counts.

Surely you know by now that our city is united against this dangerous project? From the allotment holders whose plots are vulnerable to drilling chemicals, to the businesses whose livelihoods will be threatened by gridlock from construction chaos, from the children who will be exposed to the pollution from years of tearing up our city, to the sports teams whose pitches will be closed for building sites, from the property owners whose homes are blighted by the route, to the dog walkers who will see Portsmouth’s precious green spaces dug up and fenced off… we reject the vandalism of our city for private profit.

Aquind’s plan would be devastating for our delicate marine and shoreline wildlife, such as 20 species of waders and the Brent Geese that winter here from Siberia. Laying the cables would also disturb significant amounts of toxic waste buried under Milton Common, threatening families living alongside the route with asbestos. The previous Secretary of State found that the damaging impacts on our city and environment could not be justified by any benefits, so what reason can there be to change his decision?

It's time to put an end the fake promises of cheaper and greener electricity, made by a company that has already been granted exemption from pricing regulation, which relies on an abundance of French nuclear power - but France says no to Aquind and now needs its power for its domestic market. It's time to practise what you preach, and invest in sustainable energy projects on our own shores, not put our security at risk by relying on Soviet-born oligarchs to develop critical infrastructure in the home of the Royal Navy.

We demand protection from the activities this highly unusual and opaque company: a company with no experience that claims to be able to manage a £1.3 billion cross-channel project; a company with substantial offshore funding but no trading income; a company that proposes an electricity cable but hides a communications network within it; a company whose owners seek to intimidate the press while making threats to a Portsmouth MP.

Aquind's money and influence have gone to the very heart of the Conservative Party. One of its owners boasts of his influence on your party leadership, while the Prime Minister and Chancellor are amongst those that accepted donations from the company or its owners. It’s time to return this money and remove the stench of cronyism from the Conservative Party’s relationship with Aquind, an odour that threatens your own reputations.

Open letter text

It's time to put an end to this unwanted, unneeded and dangerous plan. It’s time to protect our environment, stand up to oligarchs and defend democracy. It's time to stop Aquind.

Sign the open letter

Signers list

Ian Clark
Jim Harding
Louise Marshall
Kevin Fowler
Sandra Thorne
Frances Blake Bouchart
Lucille Brain
Damian Harrington
Ann Clair
Sally Jones
Angela Murphy White
Sarah Jefferies
Joan Pender
Julie Mathis
Elizabeth Barnes-Downing
Clare Marshall
Janet Schulkins
Martyn Beck
Craig Sumner
Hazel Gibbs
Katrina Perkinson
Jeanette Crawford
Stacey Edwards
Martin Gilholm
Helen Lockwood
Peter Parsons
Clare Witcher
Mel Sykes
Mary Abbott
Josephine Stanley
Jo Evans
Jessie Goodyear
Jane Townsend
Laura Brett
Adam Lennard
Kevin Roberts
Nathan Bartolo-Sumner
Rosie Dean
Chris Bell
Jenny Blackie
Darren Lammas
James Light
Edward Manchip
Mary Kelly
Jennifer Macmull
Jacky Burden
Dorthe Kelly
Debra Yates
Clare Ash
Angela Rose