Sunak reinstates moratorium on fracking in further government U-turn

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the government will reinstate the moratorium on fracking in a further U-turn on the policies announced by his predecessor.

Asked by Caroline Lucas MP whether the Tories will comply with their 2019 pledge to keep the ban in place under his premiership, Sunak told parliament during his first Prime Minister’s Questions session that “I stand by the manifesto on that”.

Liz Truss lifted the ban last month, claiming that doing so was part of a plan to help limit energy bill prices despite scientists and economists warning that the move would imperil climate targets and would not ease the energy crisis.

Jim Watson, professor of energy policy at University College London, said at the time that it would “take a long time to produce relatively small amounts of gas” while Stuart Haszeldine, professor of carbon capture and storage at the University of Edinburgh, said “analyses of the shales recovered while drilling for fracking in Lancashire showed the wrong type of shale and no oil or gas present”.

Experts warned that even if shale gas could be produced here at scale, it would not reduce fuel bills because gas prices are set by international markets, so any gas produced would be sold to the highest bidder and vast amounts would be needed to make any change to the gas price.

Kwasi Kwarteng – who served as Chancellor under Truss for a total of 38 days – tweeted in February: “Additional UK production won’t materially affect the wholesale market price. This includes fracking – UK producers won’t sell shale gas to UK consumers below the market price. They’re not charities.”

The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto placed a ban on fracking in England following opposition from environmentalists and local communities. Sunak’s spokesperson confirmed following PMQs that the ban would be reinstated.

Responding to the U-turn, Ed Miliband pointed out that Sunak voted against Labour’s motion last week, which would have provided time in the parliamentary schedule to debate a bill proposing that the ban on fracking be reinstated.

“This week his spokespeople tell us he is in favour of the temporary moratorium on fracking in the Conservative manifesto,” Labour’s Shadow Climate and Net Zero Secretary added.

“Whatever their latest position, the truth is that the Tories have shown that they cannot be trusted on the issue of fracking. The only way to guarantee that fracking will be banned for good is to elect a Labour government.

“And by doubling down today on the onshore wind ban, Rishi Sunak is showing that he offers more of the same after 12 years of failed Conservative energy policy, which has made energy bills too high for families and weakened Britain’s energy security.”

Onshore wind development has been banned in England since David Cameron’s time in Downing Street, and a campaign pledge during Sunak’s initial leadership campaign against Truss over the summer promised to maintain the prohibition.

The latest U-turn on fracking followed significant climb-downs from the government following the unveiling of the ‘mini-Budget’ in September – after which the pound fell to a record-low level against the dollar and interest rates rose sharply.

Kwarteng announced the reversal of a proposal to axe the top-rate of income tax for earnings over £150,000 before his sacking, and his successor Jeremy Hunt later confirmed the reversal of “almost all” tax measures in the fiscal statement.