Labour government would ban fracking in UK

The Labour party has strengthened its opposition to fracking, saying it would ban the controversial technique for extracting shale gas if it came to power.

Speaking at the Labour conference in Liverpool, shadow energy and climate secretary Barry Gardiner is to announce the party will be going further than its previous policy of a moratorium until environment conditions are met.

The stance leaves the party even more strongly opposed to fracking than the Scottish government, which has a moratorium in place until the impacts of hydraulic fracturing are researched further. The Welsh government opposes fracking and has instructed local authorities to turn down applications.

Gardiner will tell delegates: “Today I am announcing that the next Labour government will ban fracking in the UK. Fracking locks us into an energy infrastructure that is based on fossil fuels long after our country needs to have moved to renewables. The next Labour government will back the clean technologies of the future.”

The Liberal Democrats welcomed Labour in joining them in supporting a ban on fracking. ““I hope these are not just empty words and they will join Liberal Democrats in actively opposing the Tory plans to ruin our countryside,” said Lynne Featherstone, the party’s energy and climate spokesperson.

The Green party said the onus was now on Labour politicians to oppose fracking plans at a local level.

Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the party, said: “Labour’s commitment to a fracking ban is extremely welcome. Not only does fracking pose risks to local communities, but drilling for gas under our countryside risks undermining our climate change commitments too.”

Hannah Martin, energy campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “With opposition to fracking an all-time high across the country, this ban on an unproven and inexperienced industry will be widely welcomed.”

The industry has confirmed no shale gas wells will be drilled in Britain this year, as a key fracking decision nears.

Within the next fortnight, the government will decide whether to accept shale company Cuadrilla’s appeal against Lancashire county council’s decision last year to turn down its application for two fracking sites.

But even if communities secretary Sajid Javid green lights the fracking, as expected, Cuadrilla said that construction it needs to undertake at the two sites on the Fylde means the earliest drilling could start would be April next year.

The industry trade body told the Guardian that no wells had been drilled into shale in 2016, and it knew of none planned before 2017.

Chemicals giant Ineos, which has heralded the promise of a “shale gas revolution” in the UK and last year promised to “move quickly”, has not submitted a single shale planning application yet, it emerged last week, but plans to submit five before the year’s end. Another shale company, Third Energy, recently had its hopes of fracking in North Yorkshire this year dashed due to delays over a legal challenge by Friends of the Earth and a local anti-fracking group.

The lack of action on the ground does not match the government’s aspirations for fracking. David Cameron said more than two and half years ago that the UK is going “all out for shale” and ministers one year ago promised they would “fast track” bids.

Tony Bosworth, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Reality and rhetoric parted ways long ago on this because quite simply the government backed the wrong horse. Opinion polls repeatedly show that people in the UK strongly support renewables and oppose fracking.”

He added that the new government should not overturn the local decision made in Lancashire last year, and instead break with the strong backing for fracking given by Cameron and then-chancellor George Osborne.

“If Theresa May continues David Cameron’s ‘all out for shale gas’ approach then trouble will be brewing in her heartlands,” he said. “Communities secretary Sajid Javid can signal a change of approach by upholding last year’s refusal of planning permission by Lancashire councillors for fracking.”

A U-turn on the government’s pro-fracking stance is unlikely. May last month said householders living near shale wells should receive cash payments so they benefit from the developments.

A spokesman for the trade association that represents fracking companies, United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas (Ukoog), said a total of four wells had gone into the shale layer in the last five years and only one – Preese Hall, Lancashire, in 2011 – had been fracked. A moratorium put in place after small earthquakes near that site was lifted in 2012.

Ken Cronin, chief executive of Ukoog, said he hoped Javid would accept Cuadrilla’s appeal so the industry could get on with exploration.

“We trust that the secretary of state [Javid] and the High Court will agree with the industry and independent academics that we can explore for shale gas safely and with minimal impact on the environment and local communities, so that we can get on next year with discovering how much recoverable gas lies beneath our feet,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Cuadrilla said: “If we get planning consent we would first need to discharge planning conditions with Lancashire county council, then we would need to build the site so likely drilling would commence Q2 2017.”

A spokesman for Ineos said: “There has been no downsizing in our ambition. Our commitment to shale and the economics of extraction remain as strong as ever and we look forward to kick-starting British manufacturing with this new competitive fuel source.

“We remain fully committed to a full and considered scientific approach for our surveys, which means engaging in a meaningful two-way consultation with local people.”

This week, planning officials at Nottinghamshire county council will publish their recommendations to councillors on whether or not they should approve a planning application for the county’s first shale gas well.

IGas, one of the UK’s biggest shale companies, has applied to drill and explore for shale gas at Springs Road, near Misson, though it would need to submit further applications to frack there.