Downing Street has hinted that the ban on fracking could be lifted. It comes as new Prime Minister Liz Truss prepares to set out a new package of measures to help deal with the energy crisis.
At the beginning of this year, it seemed that more than a decade of controversy over fracking for gas in the UK was over, when energy company Cuadrilla announced that the country's only two shale wells were to be abandoned. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed energy prices and security to the top of the agenda, prompting calls for the Government to rethink the moratorium it had imposed on fracking in England in 2019 in the wake of tremors in Lancashire.
In her campaign to become Prime Minister, Ms Truss said in an interview: "I support exploring fracking in parts of the United Kingdom where that can be done." On Wednesday, the Prime Minister's press secretary said: "She made clear her position during the campaign but I'm not going to get into what's in this energy package."
