Category Archives: Fracking

No evidence of bullying in fracking vote, says Commons Speaker

Tense scene in the voting lobby: Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted this image as the fracking vote was taking place.

Are we all greatly reassured by the words of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle?

He seems to think that the words of one Conservative MP are enough to prove that nobody was bullied into backing the government during a controversial vote on fracking a couple of weeks ago, that ended up bringing down Liz Truss’s government.

According to a BBC report,

Labour MP Chris Bryant said he witnessed “clear bullying” in the division lobby of the House of Commons during the vote on 19 October.

But one Conservative MP, Alexander Stafford, rejected the claims, saying he had a “frank and robust conversation” with members of the government outside the voting lobbies but “nothing more”.

Sir Lindsay told MPs: “… While some members thought that physical contact was being used to force a member into the lobby, the member concerned has said very clearly that this did not happen.”

I can’t say I’m convinced.

The impression I had was that both Jacob Rees-Mogg and Therese Coffee had been accused of manhandling Tory MPs – plural – into supporting the then-government’s line that fracking should be allowed to resume in the UK. Relying on the words of just one member – referring to what happened to them alone – seems very poor evidence-gathering indeed.

Perhaps it isn’t important now. Truss is out of Downing Street and the new administration under Rishi Sunak has said that fracking will not resume after all.

But if we can’t trust that investigations of wrongdoing in Parliament are thorough and fair, then what should we think of any such matters in the future?

Looking to the future, it seems clear that the archaic voting system at Westminster, in which members physically walk through lobbies, has had its day.

The devolved governments in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland all have electronic voting systems.

To prevent even the suggestion of physical bullying, it’s time the same system was introduced to the Houses of Parliament.

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Dept of GOOD NEWS: FRACKING has been BANNED AGAIN

This is what fracking is: It has the potential to cause huge harm – and Rishi Sunak seems to have realised this.

Rishi Sunak has reversed another Liz Truss policy – and placed another moratorium on fracking in England.

Truss had lifted the ban, saying fracking could take place with local consent – and in order to alleviate the UK’s energy crisis.

But Downing Street confirmed Sunak was committed to the ban on fracking in England set out in his party’s 2019 manifesto.

It said the party would not support fracking unless the science showed “categorically” that it could be carried out safely.

Scotland and Wales continue to oppose fracking.

“I have already said I stand by the manifesto on that,” said Sunak during Prime Minister’s Questions earlier.

But this could also be seen as Sunak’s first major u-turn. Only last Wednesday, he voted against a Labour motion to ban the practice, and had later said he supported it “if local communities support it”.

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Should fracking ‘confidence’ vote be annulled after shameful scenes in Westminster?

Liz Truss: while her minions (allegedly) bulliedTory MPs to vote against their consciences, she has distracted from an international crisis by “worrying about her knitting”. What a contemptible excuse for a stateswoman. And she wanted us to think she modelled herself on Thatcher!

What do you think?

It has been alleged that Conservative MPs were forced to vote with the government – against their will – by MPs who manhandled them through a lobby they did not want to enter, so that Liz Truss could claim her Parliamentary party had confidence in her leadership.

If this is true, then the result of the fracking vote yesterday (October 19) should be annulled. It simply isn’t safe to describe it as the will of Parliament, let alone the will of the people of the United Kingdom.

An investigation into what happened during the vote should be opened immediately, with Conservative Party whips and cabinet ministers barred from having any contact with other MPs until they have given their evidence.

Another vote should be taken, with Tory whips and ministers again compelled to cast their votes separately from other MPs, in order to ensure that there is no interference with the will of Parliament.

But what happened yesterday should sound the death knell of Liz Truss as a political leader – or even as a member of Parliament.

If MPs were physically forced to do something they had not intended to do, then somebody was ordered to force them. And the buck stops at the top – with Truss.

It seems clear that Tory MPs are of the view that she – and her Cabinet – have caused immeasurable damage to the Conservative Party. Just consider the reaction of Charles Walker, as recorded by the BBC. The man could hardly contain himself:

BBC Political Editor Chris Mason reckons he has been talking to a senior Tory “whose analysis was so brutal it left me open-mouthed”. He continued:

Liz Truss’s actions have been “unforgivable,” “terrible” and “appalling”.

“She has stuffed the party, the country, and there’ll be a general election.”

“How could she act like a little dictator without a mandate?”

He reckons the argument for a general election will be deafeningly loud – even though no Tory would want it, considering their current unpopularity across the UK. But that situation is worsening with every minute Truss remains in office.

Here’s another perspective on it, from Professor Tim Wilson. Besides his own opinions, he mentions some of the Tories who abstained from voting, including some very big names:

And he’s right about Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has declared martial law in those parts of that country that he claims to have annexed – even though he has not taken possession of them all.

He’s just sitting in Moscow, poised to do who-knows-what.

And, as Prof Wilson says, Liz Truss is worried about her knitting.

Charles Walker is right. The Tory Party needs to get its act together now – and the grown-ups need to take charge.

Until they do, the UK will play no effective part in international events. And who knows what will happen then?

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Fracking debate becomes confidence vote in Liz Truss and her government

House of Commons: will the result of the fracking ‘confidence vote’ see as many people crammed into the chamber?

Did you notice this, from Prime Minister’s Questions?

It refers to an Opposition Day debate on fracking, brought by Labour, to ban the extraction of shale gas by that method.

According to the BBC, a message has been circulated to Conservative MPs, saying: “This is a confidence motion in the government.”

Tories who oppose fracking have been told to support the government line – that fracking is back on the agenda – or face being expelled from the Parliamentary party.

But what if significant numbers of them defy the demand?

If it is being taken as a confidence motion in the Truss government – an administration that has lost all authority with the loss of all its policies on Monday – then who will be around to expel all the Tories voting against her, if she loses?

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Business boss says fracking will not happen

The government may have lifted the ban on fracking but without public consent it still won’t happen, according to a business boss.

Richard Walker, the boss of Iceland, said members of the public are never going to allow the process, that may cause earthquakes, to happen near them.

And he pointed out that the economic gain would be minimal, even if it did happen.

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Is the Conservative Party splitting over fracking?

This is what fracking is: It has the potential to cause huge harm.

The return to fracking by Liz Truss and her government won’t relieve the energy crisis – and it seems Conservative MPs know it.

Is a split opening up within the Tory Party?

I offer this clip for your consideration:

Ah well – we can still laugh about it:

Can’t we?

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Fracking licences proliferate after Truss lifts ban on toxic shale gas extraction method

From Facebook: Under cover of the Queens death, Liz Truss lifted the fracking ban two days ago. A swathe of fracking licences across the country is the result. This drastically impacts housing plans and not least the controversial HS2 route through Warwicks, Staffords and Cheshire.

More details here

Here

Here

And here.

(With apologies: This Writer is labouring under a stinker of a cold and I don’t have as much time or energy to devote to stories today as I would like.)

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Tory energy idiocy: they want scientists to say fracking doesn’t cause earthquakes

Kwasi Kwarteng: he’s not interested in providing cheaper energy for you – he wants to make money for rich people at your expense.

Tory business twit Kwasi Kwarteng has commissioned the British Geological Survey to produce a new report on the impact of fracking – hoping evidence that it causes earthquakes will magically go away.

Kwarteng says he wants to find new ways of supplying the UK’s energy needs after prices skyrocketed due to a squeeze on the amount of gas available – worsened by the boycott on Russian gas triggered by that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

But rather than switch to wholly renewable and green domestic energy generation, he is turning to a calamitous strategy that will fill the country with nuclear waste and earthquakes that will cause massive property damage.

Potentially.

Fracking has been tried in the UK – near Blackpool – but was stopped because it triggered 17 earthquakes over a nine-day period, culminating in a “red event” that forced a halt in operations. The tremors were recorded by the British Geological Survey.

The Tories suspended fracking as an energy-generation policy in the run-up to the 2019 general election and in summer 2020 Kwarteng himself said the government had moved on: “We’ve always said we’d be evidence-backed so if there was a time when the science evidence changed our minds we would be open to that. But for now, fracking is over.”

Now the same goon wants to bring fracking back.

We’re all familiar with the process he’s using: pay an organisation to write a report that says what the commissioner wants it to say (in this case, that the earthquakes that closed the Lancashire fracking down didn’t happen).

It will be fascinating – not to say highly hypocritical – if the British Geological Survey’s report ends up saying this, as it was the same organisation that recorded the earthquakes and shut fracking down.

And let’s remember the real motivation for this new push towards fracking: MONEY.

The Tories know that fracking will make money for rich people like them.

They don’t care that it will cause earthquakes that may cause millions of pounds worth of harm to property belonging to poorer people because it means those people will have to pay other rich people to have it corrected – if possible.

And if it can’t be corrected – who cares? The people affected don’t matter – right?

Kwarteng himself has said that “fracking in England would take years of exploration and development before commercial quantities of gas could be produced for the market, and would certainly have no effect on prices in the near term”. So why bother with it, then?

Put the evidence together and it seems clear that this is an expensive waste of time. The effort should be put into efficient renewables that can be put into service quickly.

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‘Fracking is over’ says Kwarteng. But do the Tories mean it?

Kwasi Kwarteng: “Fracking is over.”

This is great news that may have passed you by:

Yesterday Kwasi Kwarteng, the energy minister, when asked about fracking in the UK announced that the government had “moved on”.

He stated: “We had a moratorium on fracking last year and frankly the debate’s moved on. It is not something that we’re looking to do.

“We’ve always said we’d be evidence-backed so if there was a time when the science evidence changed our minds we would be open to that. But for now, fracking is over.”

This is of course great news for those who consider science and public opinion to be important but as we know this government’s record on telling the truth is up there with a deceased horse winning the Derby.

This Writer agrees with Dorset Eye that it’s great news.

I also agree that the Tories’ reputation for economy with the truth is legendary.

But we have an undertaking from the Energy Minister that fracking is off the agenda.

All we have to do now is hold him – and them – to that.

Source: Have the government really announced the end of fracking in the UK? – Dorset Eye

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Tory government breaks ruling ordering it to publish report on UK fracking

The obvious question – asked by Labour’s Jon Trickett in the quoted extract below – is clear:

If the Tories will break a legally-binding regulator’s ruling to hide the facts about fracking from the public, what other rules are they willing to break?

My guess is: all of them.

And if they’re hiding information from you, it’s because they are putting their own interests before those of the nation.

That’s no way for a government to behave.

The government has refused to abide by a ruling to publish parts of a report on the state of the UK’s fracking industry, Labour has pointed out.

The government was instructed by the information commissioners office (ICO) to release the document by 5pm on November 25th. This followed the failure of the cabinet office to respond to a freedom of information request submitted by Greenpeace in 2018.

The cabinet office had refused on the grounds the information “could call into question the industry’s viability” and was an internal government document exempt from the environmental information regulations.

Labour’s shadow minister for the cabinet office, Jon Trickett, said: “The Tories’ failure to publish this crucial report on fracking shows contempt for democracy and serves as a stark warning for what lies ahead if Boris Johnson is re-elected.

Labour has explicitly committed to a ban on fracking. The government halted fracking earlier this month but campaign groups are concerned that this is a temporary pause.

Source: Government refuses to publish report on fracking – LabourList

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