The House of Lords has backed down in its stand-off with MPs over the speed at which coal-fired power stations should be phased out.
Peers rejected by 262 to 215, Government majority 47, an attempt to defeat ministers for a second time on the issue.
The Lords voted by 237 to 193 to defeat the Government on an amendment to the Energy Bill last month following a major Liberal Democrat rebellion, but MPs overturned the setback last week.
And today peers accepted the position of the Commons and rejected a compromise amendment to the Bill, which will now become law.
The vote came after energy minister Baroness Verma warned peers that if they voted in favour of the amendment it would create “uncertainty” and provide an “unacceptable risk”.
Leading geologist and climate change expert Lord Oxburgh, putting forward the amendment, said it was intended to “make it clear that a role for unabated coal in the national energy mix is not foreseen beyond 2025 and that, indeed, is the Government’s position”.
The independent crossbench peer said the Bill already had provisions that would allow coal to be used for longer in the “unlikely event” that it was necessary.
He added: “The amendment is simply to provide an additional crumb of confidence to those who are contemplating investing in new gas-fired power generation.”
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