A major Tory donor's £1.2 billion energy connector proposal has been rejected by ministers.
Aquind Energy and its co-founder Alexander Temerko have handed more than £1m to the Conservative Party, including personal donations to MPs and their constituency parties.
Today, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng officially rejected the plan - a huge energy cable under the English channel from France to Portsmouth - according to Government documents.
"The Secretary of State has... decided, in accordance with Section 104(3), to refuse development consent," the documents said.
Mr Kwarteng was under intense scrutiny over the decision - after two ministers were forced to recuse themselves from decisions on the project because over donations.
In July, Energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan became the second Tory minister to recuse herself after it emerged Mr Temerko had given cash to her local Tory association.
And the Mirror revealed in July 2020 that former Business Secretary Alok Sharma had shared a table with the same Russian-born businessman at the Tory Black and White ball fundraiser.
Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said: "This is a victory for the people of Portsmouth over years of uncertainty and Tory cronyism.”
But the firm said they were considering a legal challenge to the decision.
"We are considering the decision, the grounds for the refusal, and a potential legal challenge," a spokesperson said.
"We believe our application for a Development Consent Order to be accurate and robust, and it has met all the requirements.
"We will continue the development of Aquind Interconnector, and we will be engaging with the relevant parties in the coming weeks."
Alexander Temerko, who was born in the former Soviet Union but is now a British citizen, has donated more than £1 million to the Tories and is listed as a director of Aquind Limited.
In 2020 Mr Temerko told MPs that Russian-linked businessmen have "zero" political influence.
There’s no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Aquind Ltd, Mr Temerko or Mr Glukhovskoy.
