Reform UK-led council refuses to back fracking ban call

The Reform-led Lancashire County Council has refused to call on the government to permanently ban fracking.

It comes after they were asked to back a ban in a motion put forward by the Labour group leader Mark Clifford at a council meeting.

He said recent comments by Reform UK deputy leader MP Richard Tice about lifting bans on the controversial process have caused “deep concern among Lancashire residents”.

Fracking was effectively banned in 2019 after a moratorium was introduced following a series of earthquakes at the Preston New Road site in Fylde.

Lancashire’s Reform UK-led administration insists it is being ‘pragmatic’ in case the situation changes around fracking and have previously ruled out a return to drilling.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced at this year’s Labour party conference that the government is planning to pass a new law that would ban fracking for shale gas permanently in England.

At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday, councillors voted for an amended motion from Reform UK County Councillor Joel Tetlow which removed the word ‘fracking’ and replaced it with ‘extracting shale gas’.

The amended motion also called for the “continuation of the moratorium, while commissioning a full independent review of domestic energy sources”.

Councillor Mark Clifford said: “There was nothing to even amend, it was ridiculous, the people of Lancashire have already spoken.

“We do not want fracking in Lancashire, why does Reform UK want to see the return of fracking?”

The leader of Lancashire County Council, Reform UK’s Stephen Atkinson said: “This was purely a political motion put forward to try and scaremonger the people of Lancashire, what we did was to make it sensible.

“In the Fylde coast it didn’t work, but there is new technology coming all the time and Reform’s position is let’s do this scientifically, so if it’s not safe, it’ll not happen.”