Lewes MP criticised for comments on scrapping fracking ban in Sussex

Last month, Prime Minister Liz Truss stated she would lift the ban on the mining technique, despite the Guardian revealing a leaked government report suggesting little progress has been made in reducing and predicting the risk of earthquakes caused by the practice.

James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Lewes, tweeted: “The Conservatives' obsession with fracking despite no evidence that it will bring down energy bills is deeply alarming.

“We are in the middle of a Climate Emergency, and instead of investing in renewable energy, Conservatives are seeking to pump more carbon into the atmosphere.”

In an interview with BBC Radio Sussex last Friday morning (October 7), Ms Caulfield stated that whilst she had previously been an opponent of fracking, the 49-year-old now believed that ‘circumstances have changed in terms of our energy needs.’

There are fracking licences allocated to Balcombe in Mid Sussex, Billingshurst in the Horsham district and Wivelsfield in the East Sussex region.

The Green Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate, Emily O’Brien, was interviewed alongside Maria Caulfield and stated afterwards that she was shocked, adding: “Fracking is dirty, damaging, unpopular and not proven to be safe. It is the wrong answer to our energy problem.”

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is the process by which shale gas and oil is released from deep underground. Water and chemicals are pumped quickly through rocks to release fossil fuels trapped beneath.

Back in November 2019, the Conservative government announced an effective moratorium on fracking in England based on a report about the link between extraction operations and earthquakes.

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However, wholesale global gas prices have risen sharply this year, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, leading to the resurrection of arguments to allow fracking in the UK.

UK energy bills skyrocketed in April and further increases are expected in the autumn, although new Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced billions to cap a household’s prices at £2,500 annually until 2024.

Ms Caulfield told SussexWorld : “I have been crystal clear that I do not support fracking in Sussex and will not vote for it. I was part of the campaign that brought the moratorium forward to halt fracking in the first place.

“Because of this Government's actions and our wide mix of energy supplies, with renewables now providing close to 60% of our electricity, we are not facing the same energy supply issues this winter as other countries such as Germany and France.

"At a time of global energy shortages because of the war in Ukraine, it is a sensible option to look at all options including shale gas reserves and there are number of communities in the UK that are keen to explore options.

“The Green Party live in the ideal world, the rest of us have to live in the real one and one where we are dealing with consequences of a war in Europe where Russia are blowing up gas pipelines to the continent of Europe.”