Fracking will only resume with local consent, PM insists

Prime Minister Liz Truss has insisted fracking will only resume in the UK with "local consent".

The lifting of a ban on the process means the UK's only shale gas wells in Lancashire could be reopened.

That move has been opposed by MPs, councillors and residents, though it has also had some local support.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Ms Truss did not explain how consent would be gauged, but said it would be wrong to "rule out the whole of Lancashire".

A moratorium was put in place in 2019 following concerns over earth tremors, but with the energy crisis worsening globally and world leaders scrambling to secure energy supplies, the question has been reopened.

'More homegrown energy'

Ms Truss said Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, who faced a backlash from the Conservative government's own MPs over the decision to lift the ban, would be "laying out in more detail" exactly what local consent would look like, "but it does mean making sure there is local support for going ahead".

Mr Rees-Mogg previously told Parliament that fracking was in the national interest, would help boost the UK's domestic gas supplies and would make the country richer.

Ms Truss said the government would "only press ahead with fracking in areas where there is local community support".

"We need to explore where there is local consent and where there isn't and we are still doing that work," she said.

"The UK has become dependent on global energy prices... so what I want to see is more homegrown energy in the UK."

She said fracking was "carried out perfectly safely in various parts of the world" and Mr Rees-Mogg would "make sure that any fracking that takes place is safe".

The wells at Preston New Road were due to be sealed, before regulators lifted an order to cap them

The lifting of the fracking ban came as a report by the British Geological Survey concluded there was still limited understanding of the UK's shale reserves and drilling impacts.

During a heated exchange with Mr Rees-Mogg in the House of Commons, Fylde MP Mark Menzies said he was "disappointed" the business secretary had given "no clear answers" on how local consent would be gauged.

Mr Menzies has previously said fracking is a "danger to the public" and has vowed "to continue to fight on behalf of our local communities".

Fellow Tory MP Scott Benton, who represents Blackpool South, has also said many of his constituents have "strong objections" to the process.

Mr Rees-Mogg said it would be for fracking firms to offer compensation packages to "make what they are proposing to do welcome to local communities".

Energy firm Cuadrilla, which sank the wells at Preston New Road, previously said it was nearby communities who "stand to benefit most" from fracking, as a "portion of all shale gas revenue should be delivered to local residents as a community dividend".