‘Our old way of life will be gone forever’: The tenant farmers targeted by solar developers
It’s a frosty morning on Kidsley Farm in Derbyshire, a rare thing in this unusually warm winter.
Andrew Dakin’s beef herd is housed in the old brick barns, their breath steaming in the chill air.
Alongside scuttling chickens and tractors of varying vintages, this is the very image of a traditional farmyard. But for how long? Andrew is a tenant farmer and his landlord, who owns the land, wants to turn his pasture into a solar farm.
“Our old way of life will be gone forever. And I’ve worked on this farm all my life, seven days a week. I’ve not been on holiday since I was 15. Not because I didn’t want to, but I like being here on the farm.”
His family has worked the land here for 94 years. His mother still lives with him in the farmhouse. Although he would be allowed to stay in his home and is being offered some compensation, with the grazing replaced by photovoltaic panels, the job would be gone.
“It’ll all be fenced off with 10ft-high deer fencing. I think solar panels have got a part to play on house roofs, factory roofs and brownfield sites.”
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But both political parties have huge ambitions for solar: the government wants five times as much power from the sun by 2035 and delivering that without touching farmland is implausible according to many experts, including Chris Hewett from Solar Energy UK.
“We are in a climate emergency and we do need to deploy this technology very quickly because climate change is the greatest threat to food security,” he says.
“If we don’t solve that, farms are not going to be viable in the future. I think all siting needs to be done sensitively and if businesses are affected there needs to be compensation.”
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Currently, just 0.1% of farmland is taken by solar panels – similar to the area claimed by Christmas trees – and they can be combined with sheep grazing and even some cropland. But in areas with good grid connections, productive farmland is targeted by solar developers.
Farmers who own their land might see this as a financial opportunity but tenants like Andrew Dakin have no say.
George Dunn, who runs the Tenant Farmers Association, says: “It’s becoming ever more common. Just about every week I get another TFA member calling me to say that they have a huge solar scheme that’s going to either engulf their farm or take a large part of their farm.
“People are literally in tears on the phone saying the years of business, years of investment they have been put to that holding will be lost. We’re talking about thousands of acres being taken out.”
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The transition to renewable energy will provide new jobs and opportunities. But it comes at a cost for farmers like Andrew Dakin.
“I don’t know what I’d do without the farm. It’s in my blood. Going to the market and talking to my farmer friends and about our experiences the previous week. That would all be gone. Life would never be the same again,” says Mr Dakin.
Part of Mr Dakin’s farm used to be an opencast coal mine. The widespread closure of that industry was a bitter episode in recent history.
National Energy transitions can be painful.
The first known victim of serial paedophile Richard Burrows has told Sky News he regrets not reporting his assault at the time to save others from “falling into the same trap”.
Burrows, 81, will learn his sentence at Chester Crown Court today after being convicted last month of dozens of sexual offences against young boys.
The judge told him it is “inevitable” he might never be released.
The former scout master had spent 27 years on the run, living in what he called “paradise” in Thailand, after stealing the identity of a friend and fleeing the UK when he was due in court in 1997.
A police photo of Burrows from the 1990s. Pic: Cheshire Police
He was arrested when he arrived at Heathrow in March last year.
The trial heard that Burrows had obtained positions of authority and systematically abused boys from the 1960s to the mid-1990s.
He had worked as a housemaster at a school for troubled boys and befriended other youngsters through amateur radio clubs.
One of those was his first victim, aged 14 at the time in the late 1960s, and now 71.
He told Sky News: “It’s been an awfully long time and after 57 years I’ve got to see the results at the end of it.
“It does actually feel like a weight’s been lifted. You hear that expression all through life, but it’s the first time ever really felt it.”
He described Burrows as a “devious, nasty creature”.
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The man, who cannot be identified as he is the victim of a sexual offence, attended Burrows’s trial and delivered a victim impact statement at his sentencing.
He said he wanted to do this because of the regret he carries to this day.
“I wish I’d said something when it happened because I feel that, in retrospect, if I would have said something, then maybe it would have stopped other people from falling into the same trap that I did,” he added.
“But at that time, at that age, I thought I probably wouldn’t have been believed, and I felt too ashamed and embarrassed and even guilty to even mention it to anybody else. So, I didn’t, and I regret not doing that.”
Photos of Burrows in Thailand. Pic: Cheshire Police
The man contacted police after seeing an appeal for help in finding the fugitive Burrows on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme in 2011. It would be another decade before he was arrested.
He said: “I really begrudge him those 27 years. It’s 27 years and he’s just left a trail of wreckage behind him while he’s enjoying himself.
“It’s a shame he’s not got another 27 years to look forward to in jail.”
Although he was the earliest victim on the indictment at Burrows’s trial, like detectives from Cheshire Police, he believes there could be other victims who have not come forward.
He said: “Personally, I don’t think I was the first victim. I think that he was probably fairly well practiced in the art of what he was doing prior to my meeting him.”
Burrows being met by police at Heathrow. Pic: Cheshire Police
Burrows was initially charged in May 1997 but failed to attend a hearing later that year.
He remained on the wanted list until police using facial recognition software matched him to a man using the name Peter Smith. He had stolen the identity of a terminally ill friend to obtain a passport.
After his conviction in March, judge Steven Everett told Burrows he had caused “untold distress and trauma to the victims and their families”.
The UK has joined US forces in attacking a Houthi target in Yemen for the first time since Donald Trump was re-elected.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the strikes took place on Tuesday as part of the government’s response to Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The ministry said careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings used by the Houthis to manufacture the sort of drones used to attack ships, located 15 miles south of the capital Sanaa.
RAF Typhoon FGR4s conducted strikes on several buildings using Paveway IV precision-guided bombs.
The planes had air refuelling support from Voyager tankers.
The ministry said the strike was conducted after dark to reduce the likelihood of civilians being in the area.
All the aircraft returned safely.
John Healey. Pic: Reuters
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “This government will always act in the interests of our national and economic security.
“Royal Air Force Typhoons have successfully conducted strikes against a Houthi military target in Yemen and all UK aircraft and personnel have returned safely to base.
“We conducted these strikes, supported by the US, to degrade Houthi capabilities and prevent further attacks against UK and international shipping.”
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Mr Healey said Houthi activities in the Red Sea are a “persistent threat” to “freedom of navigation”.
“A 55% drop in shipping through the Red Sea has already cost billions, fuelling regional instability and risking economic security for families in the UK,” he said.
“The government is steadfast in our commitment to reinforcing global stability and protecting British working people. I am proud of the dedication and professionalism shown by the service men and women involved in this operation.”
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US intensifies strikes on Houthis
It was the first time UK forces have struck a target in Yemen since May last year, the ministry confirmed.
The US has intensified its strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis under Mr Trump’s presidency, after his re-election in November 2024.
The group began launching attacks on shipping routes in November 2023 saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
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Footage showing people being pulled from rubble has been released by Houthi rebels in Yemen
The strike came after a Houthi-controlled TV channel claimed a US strike killed 68 people at a detention centre for African migrants in Yemen on Monday.
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