Planning and Infrastructure Bill Report Stage: New Clause 39

Parliament defeated a Conservative-led proposal to ban large-scale solar farm developments on high-quality agricultural land during the Report Stage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on 9 June 2025. The vote, Division 215, went 113 in favour and 335 against, rejecting New Clause 39 by a margin of more than three to one. The new clause would have prohibited solar power developments on high-quality agricultural land, a category that broadly corresponds to grades one and two in the government's agricultural land classification system. Supporters argued that protecting this land is essential to national food security, particularly given fragile global supply chains, and that solar projects should instead be directed to brownfield sites, rooftops, and lower-grade land. Opponents argued that existing planning policies already provide sufficient protection and that an outright ban would hamper renewable energy targets. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All 95 voting Conservative MPs backed the new clause, as did all six voting Reform UK members, all four Plaid Cymru members, both voting Democratic Unionist Party members, one Traditional Unionist Voice member, and seven Independents. All 292 voting Labour MPs and all 35 Labour and Co-operative MPs voted against, joined by all three voting Greens and one Social Democratic and Labour Party member. No Conservative MPs voted against, and no Labour MPs voted in favour. The defeat fits a broader pattern across Report Stage, where the government's majority consistently saw off Opposition amendments throughout the two days of debate.