"More than a quarter of constituencies that have fracking licences in place are in Reform UK seats or target seats, research has revealed, amid rows inside the party over lifting the ban on the shale gas drilling. A total of 127 constituencies in England and Wales have fracking licences already approved, all of them in the north, research by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed found. Of these, 34 are in places where Reform came first or second at the last general election."
"While the biggest figures in Reform's leadership have backed a return of fracking, this sentiment disappears in areas where it could actually take place. In Lancashire, Reform councillors said fracking was not right for the north-west after a series of earthquakes shut it down in 2019, while in Scarborough in North Yorkshire the Reform-led town council voted against planning permission for an oil and gas licence that would have allowed the controversial proppant squeeze method, similar to fracking, on the outskirts of the town."
A total of 127 constituencies in England and Wales have approved fracking licences, all located in the north, with 34 of those constituencies being places where Reform UK finished first or second at the last general election. Eleven constituencies in Scotland also had potential sites, though Scotland banned fracking in 2015. Fracking has been effectively banned in England since 2019, the last remaining well was sealed this year, and the Labour government has no plans to reinstate the practice. Reform senior figures have called for lifting the ban, while many local Reform representatives and councils in affected areas oppose fracking. Party leaders described shale gas as an underground economic asset, and a Reform MP minimized past earthquake impacts from fracking operations.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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