MPs, green groups and scientists who oppose a new generation of coal-fired power stations are “wrong”, naive and against the “force of reason”, Malcolm Wicks, energy minister, told the Financial Times on Thursday.

In provocative comments that underline the government’s determination to sanction a new generation of coal-fired power stations, Mr Wicks said a “lay person” might think energy policy was “about windmills”. But “the rather boring fact is that the world is going to be burning lots of coal”.