Describing a return to shale gas extraction in England after three years, Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed concerns about earthquakes caused by the practice as “hysteria”, arguing it was often due to a lack of scientific understanding. But speaking in the Commons, the Business and Energy Secretary was repeatedly challenged by Tory MPs, who asked how local support for fracking would be assessed and demanded assurances of Liz Truss’ commitment that it was necessary. Rees-Mogg declined to be drawn, saying only that fracking companies would be required to financially compensate people affected by shale gas drilling, a practice he said was “in the national interest”. The Guardian has also learned that Rees-Mogg’s department could designate fracking sites as national infrastructure projects (NSIPs), allowing them to bypass normal planning requirements. Such a designation, which a government source confirmed is being considered, is commonly used for projects such as roads and power generation systems. Applying it to fracking sites will anger many Tory MPs. Mark Menzies, the Conservative MP for Fylde in Lancashire, where fracking took place before ministers stopped the practice in 2019, told the Guardian that using the NSIP scheme would explicitly break a promise Truss made during the Tory leadership campaign that drilling would only take place with local approval. “If YOU ENTER [the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy] they’re doing this, they’re doing it in the face of clear commitments made by the Prime Minister – there’s no ifs or buts, it’s clear what she said,” Menzies said. “Let’s give her a chance to prove to the people of this country that she is a prime minister who does what she says she is going to do. Hopefully we don’t get into the territory of people feeling like they’ve been told one thing and something else happens.” Another Tory MP, whose constituency could see fracking, said the only way he could support it would be if the schemes were approved by local planners, with no chance of decisions being overturned afterwards. “I will wait to see what the government will do,” said the MP. “But I’ve marked their card. I’m not a fan of fracking and I’m not convinced at this stage that it’s safe to go ahead.” It marks yet another political risk for Truss, with polls consistently showing fracking is unpopular and little evidence that England has enough accessible shale gas to make a noticeable drop in energy prices. The Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto pledged to stop fracking unless there was greater scientific certainty about its safety, particularly the seismic activity caused by the drilling. A report by the British Geological Survey, commissioned by ministers and finally published this week, said it remains difficult to predict the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes created by fracking. But in a particularly combative joint appearance, called by an urgent question from Labor after the resumption of fracking was announced in a press release, Rees-Mogg said opposition to it was “pure ridiculousness” and, in in some cases, he added, it was funded by Vladimir Putin. “It’s safe,” he said. “It has been shown to be safe. The horror stories have been debunked time and time again. The hysteria about seismic activity, I think, doesn’t understand that the Richter scale is a logarithmic scale.” Rees-Mogg said the previous threshold for fracking-induced earthquake activity – 0.5 on the Richter scale – was too low and that 2.5 earthquakes were a perfectly common natural occurrence worldwide. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, called the plan an “earthquake map”, with Rees-Mogg promising that Labor would “hang this broken promise around their necks in every part of the country between now and the next general elections”. Labor is hoping to make the upcoming by-election in West Lancashire, due to the retirement of sitting Labor MP Rosie Cooper, a de facto referendum on fracking, as the constituency is another area where drilling could take place. The Commons exchanges revealed the extent of Tory skepticism over the new policy, with a number of MPs pressing Rees-Mogg on how and whether to measure local support. Sir Greg Knight, the Tory MP for East Yorkshire, another area with shale gas reserves, told Rees-Mogg that the safety evidence for fracking was simply not there: “He knows public safety is not a currency in which some of us choose to speculate?’ A visibly angry Menzies responded to Rees-Mogg’s comments about opposition to fracking by starting: “There is nothing crazy about the people of Lancashire or the Fylde.” Mark Fletcher, the Tory MP for Bolsover in Derbyshire, raised concerns about Rees-Mogg’s repeated argument that concerned locals could be compensated by fracking companies. “I have listened carefully to the secretary of state and I have to say that the local consensus plans do not seem to be washing,” he said. “It seems to be going back to communities being bought off rather than having a vote.” Ministers would also expect to face significant resistance from campaign groups and likely protests and blockades if they go ahead with fracking plans. Tom Fyans, interim chief executive of county charity CPRE, said “there isn’t a cat in hell that people will accept fracking in their neighbourhood”. He said: “It is hugely unpopular as well as unsafe, which is why it was banned in the first place. This is why there is a real fear that the government will try to use the planning system to force the attack on unwilling communities. To do so would be an incredibly unfair attack on local democracy.”
