Rishi Sunak will reinstate the England-wide moratorium on shale gas fracking that was temporarily lifted by his predecessor Liz Truss, a senior government insider has confirmed.
During his first prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the new UK prime minister told MPs that he “stands by” the Conservative party’s 2019 manifesto commitment that halted fracking. The overarching ban was briefly lifted by Truss during her brief period as prime minister.
The Tories’ 2019 manifesto stated: “We placed a moratorium on fracking in England with immediate effect. Having listened to local communities, we have ruled out changes to the planning system. We will not support fracking unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely.”
One senior government insider confirmed to the Financial Times that Truss’s decision on allowing fracking would be reversed.
The reinstatement of the moratorium in England will be welcomed by environment groups, who had accused Truss’s administration of being pro-fossil fuels after she also gave a greenlight to a new oil and gas exploration licensing round in the UK North Sea.
But it will come as a blow to companies such as Ineos — the group owned by billionaire British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe — which had hoped to prove to the government that fracking for shale gas could be carried out safely in England.
Fracking has been a highly divisive subject in England in recent years, with fossil fuel companies arguing that it could reduce Britain’s dependence on expensive gas imports. However, several leading scientists have argued the country’s geology is ill-suited to the controversial extraction technique.
The fracking moratorium in England was originally introduced in 2019 after the private company Cuadrilla caused an earthquake measuring 2.9 on the Richter scale when drilling a test well near Blackpool.
Climate groups will be less encouraged, however, by Sunak’s response to a question from shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead over whether he would stick to a pledge made during the summer to prohibit onshore wind development in England. Asked if he would change his mind on that point, Sunak responded that “more offshore wind and more nuclear . . . that is what this government will deliver”.
Truss last month scrapped onerous planning restrictions that had effectively blocked land-based turbines in England since 2015. The Tories’ 2019 manifesto was unclear on onshore wind development, but pledged 40GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
Meanwhile, Sunak defended the reappointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary just days after her resignation for a breach of the ministerial code.
“The home secretary made an error of judgment but she recognised that, she raised the matter, and she accepted her mistake,” Sunak said, adding that his new cabinet brought “experience and stability” into the heart of government.
Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader, accused the prime minister of putting party politics over the UK’s national security interests.
“He is so weak he has done a grubby deal, trading national security because he was scared to lose another leadership election . . . there is a new Tory at the top but as always with them, party first, country second,” he said.
Labour has written to Simon Case, head of the civil service, to call for an investigation into Braverman’s return to the Home Office, while the Liberal Democrats said the appointment made a “mockery” of Sunak’s claims to bring “integrity to Number 10”.