The moratorium on fracking in England has been restored by Rishi Sunak, Downing Street confirmed on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed that Mr Sunak was committed to the effective ban on fracking set out in the 2019 general election manifesto.
The Financial Times earlier reported that the Prime Minister was going to reinstate the England-wide ban on shale gas fracking, citing government insiders.
Mr Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, had announced in her first few days in office that she would scrap the the moratorium on fracking in England, to boost local fossil fuel production amid the energy crisis.
She had said fracking - extracting shale gas from rocks by breaking them up - would be allowed where it was supported by communities. But the plans had faced opposition from many lawmakers, including from her governing Conservatives.
At his first Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Sunak suggested he would reverse the green light given by his predecessor as he claimed he “stands by the manifesto on that”.
The Prime Minister’s comments came after Green Party MP Caroline Lucas asked him in the Commons: “The Prime Minister’s reckless predecessor took a wrecking ball to nature, prompting millions of members of the RSPB, the National Trust and the Wildlife Trust to rise up in opposition. Yesterday, he promised to fix her mistakes as well as to uphold the party’s 2019 manifesto.
“So, if he is a man of his word, will he start by reversing the green light she gave to fracking since it’s categorically not been shown to be safe, and instead maintain the moratorium that was pledged in that very manifesto that he promised to uphold?”
Mr Sunak replied: “I have already said I stand by the manifesto on that. But what I would say is that I’m proud that this Government has passed the landmark Environment Act.”
Fracking, which has been opposed by environmental groups and some local communities, was banned in 2019 after the industry regulator said it was not possible to predict the magnitude of earthquakes it might trigger.
Mr Sunak’s spokesman also indicated that the Prime Minister would not be pursuing MsTruss’s supply-side reform plans.
“There are no plans for supply-side reforms as we previously discussed.
“That's not to say there won’t be elements the Chancellor may or may not wish to come forward with in his autumn statement,” he said.
Under her “Trussonomics” economic plan, the former PM had promised to pursue “supply-side reforms” in a bid to drive growth, including cutting taxes and slashing planning red tape.
