Tories accuse the Government of trying to bribe their constituents over fracking

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business Secretary, yesterday lifted the moratorium on shale gas drilling in England, and accused opponents of the move of being “luddites”.

He went on to dodge questions on how “local support” for the scheme would be measured, suggesting that it would be left to drilling companies to adequately compensate local residents for the inconvenience of earthquakes.

He told the Commons: “The last time we discussed fracking the idea was communities would be delighted if they got £10 for the village hall.

“I don’t think that’s the right way to do it, it needs to be direct to the individuals who are affected and I’ve had preliminary discussions with the Chancellor, but I don’t have a formal thing to announce.”

This caused anger and confusion from Conservative MPs in the House of Commons, many of which represent northern seats which would be affected by fracking.

“There is nothing luddite about the people of Lancashire or of Fylde,” Mark Menzies told Mr Rees Mogg.

He went on to accuse the Business Secretary of ignoring two weeks of repeated appeals for assurance about details of the policy, saying: “I’ve sent letters. I’ve sent whatsapps. Nothing back.”

Fracking was paused in 2019 following worries about earthquakes in west Lancashire and the Government said it would be guided by the science before it was allowed to restart.

A report by the British Geological Survey, commissioned by the Government that year, was published yesterday and found that it was unable to predict the frequency of earthquakes from fracking, but the Government is set to go ahead regardless.

Greg Knight, the Tory MP for East Yorkshire ,said the report showed that fracking was a “risk”.

He asked Mr Rees-Mogg if he was aware that the “safety of the public is not a currency”.

His sentiment was backed by Tory colleague Mark Fletcher, the MP for Bolsover, who said that the local consent plans “don’t seem to wash”.

“It seems to come back to communities being bought off rather than having a vote.”

The Business Secretary was also criticised for suggesting that opposition to fracking was in-part funded by Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.

Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate change secretary called the comments an “absolutely outrageous slur” that was “shameful and disgraceful.”

Yesterday it was reported by the Guardian that the Department for Business was looking at designating fracking sites as nationally important infrastructure, and potentially cut out local communities from the planning process.

Last month the then-Levelling Up Secretary, Greg Clark, said that ministers will be given the ability to set shorter deadlines for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).

Geologists have reacted to the Government lifting the ban on fracking by saying the UK has the “wrong type of shale” and it was 280 million years too late.

Professor Jon Gluyas, of Durham University, said: “It won’t work – societal objections aside, we have the wrong kind of shale and geology which is far too complex.

“Indeed, even the founder of Cuadrilla – of Lancashire fracking fame a few years ago – says the same.”

But Professor Stuart Haszeldine, a geologist at Edinburgh University, said there had been no advances in predicting the seismic impact of fracturing rock at depth since then.

“We are massively late by 280 million years,” he said.