Neil Hudson welcomes Government’s stance on fracking

Penrith and the Border MP Neil Hudson has welcomed the Government’s decision to restore the moratorium on shale gas fracking in England.

Rishi Sunak, in his first  his first Prime Minister’s Questions, committed to reversing his predecessor Liz Truss’ move to lift the ban.

A vote in the House of Commons last week over the reversal of the moratorium became a confidence vote in the Government and Conservative MPs were told to vote with the party or face losing the whip.

Dr Neil Hudson, who said he consistently opposed fracking, voted with the Government to lift the ban.

He said: “Put simply, to vote against the Government would have meant losing the whip and being removed from the party I have spent the past 20 years striving so hard to champion.”   

After Mr Sunak’s announcement, Dr Hudson said: “It’s immensely encouraging that in his first Prime Minister’s Questions session he committed to standing by the Conservative manifesto that I was elected on and reinstated the moratorium on fracking.

“I maintain that fracking is retrograde and environmentally damaging and I will continue to firmly oppose it.”

“It is clear we face a significant energy security crisis brought forward by the war in Ukraine and need to secure new sources domestically and from trusted allies. However, I firmly believe that fracking is not the answer. 

“Instead, I welcome the sections of the Government’s Energy Security Strategy that plan to accelerate cleaner, more affordable domestically-produced energy such as wind, solar and nuclear.

“These are critical long-term steps to reduce energy bills and secure our long-term energy independence and prosperity, so we are never again held to ransom by undemocratic and unscrupulous foreign regimes.”