The Tories were accused of electoral “desperation” yesterday over “senseless” plans to scrap support for wind energy.

Energy Minister Michael Fallon announced the Tories will end subsidies for onshore wind turbines if they win the next election.

He said the country had “enough bill payer-funded onshore wind in the pipeline to meet our renewable energy commitments and there’s no requirement for any more.”

Only working wind farms or those under construction or with planning permission would receive support.

Mr Fallon argued that there would still be an expansion from four million to seven million homes benefiting from wind power by 2020.

Revealing a major rift in the Con-Dem coalition, Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey blasted his junior minister’s policy plan as “disastrous for business and jobs.”

And the Green Party said the move was a sign of unpopular Prime Minister David Cameron’s “desperation.”

Leader Natalie Bennett said: “He is trying to win back votes from Ukip with a policy that makes no economic or environmental sense.”

But Ms Bennett warned the Tories that even their voters recognise that “onshore wind is now the cheapest source of renewable energy.

“What the government needs to do is get serious about encouraging community ownership of renewable energy, including wind, which gives full control and financial boosts to local communities,” she added.

“In continental Europe communities compete to get wind farms.”

Renewables UK deputy chief executive Maf Smith reminded the government that almost 19,000 jobs depend on the onshore wind industry.