Energy security and net zero secretary Ed Miliband announced at the Labour Party Conference that the Government will introduce a ‘total ban’ on fracking
In a message to campaign group 38 Degrees- whose petition to give local communities greater influence in decision-making around fracking has garnered over 80,000 signatures- Miliband declared his intent to ban fracking in the UK.
Speaking at the Conference, Miliband reiterated the decision, declaring: “Let’s ban fracking and send the frackers packing.”
Fracking activities have been intermittently paused under a moratorium since 2019- lifted by Liz Truss in 2022, before being reinstated six weeks later by Rishi Sunak.
Tackling Reform’s rise
Many political commentators have assessed the move as an attempt to exploiting fracking’s divisive position in the Reform UK party, who have made significant political gains across local elections in the past 18 months.
Reform supports fracking across Britain and told energy firms in August to prepare to “drill, baby, drill”, should they win the next general election. Deputy leader Richard Tice said it would be “grossly financially negligent” to not extract shale gas reserves, such as those in Lancashire.
However, amongst the general public, fracking remains deeply unpopular.
According to Greenpeace, only 43.2% of Reform voters are opposed to fracking, whereas YouGov polling indicates that 51% of the general public oppose it- twice the numbers of those supportive(24%) or unsure(25%).
Reform UK’s pro-fracking policy would impact over 180 constituencies across the UK, with swathes of Scotland, the North of England, the Midlands and the South particularly affected if the party got into power.
Reform-curious Labour voters are more likely to support than to oppose a UK-wide fracking ban, and are opposed to having new fracking sites in their area by a clear margin, which suggests the announcement could win back disenchanted Labour voters to the party.
Environmental campaigners welcomed the announcement
Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said:
“By providing a clear vision for our energy future based on helping people, not on ignoring the science, the Energy Secretary has sent an important message that the government is listening to communities.
“Fracking is and always has been unpopular, both with people facing it off locally and the wider public. The government must now translate its plans to ban fracking permanently into policy, alongside closing a loophole in planning law that still allows it to happen by the backdoor.
“Expanding our clean energy infrastructure with the promise of hundreds of thousands of new jobs will bring down energy bills, put more money in people’s pockets, revive our economy and safeguard the planet.”
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