Glossing over fracking facts

Sir, – It appears that the petro-chemical company INEOS’s legal challenge to the Scottish Government’s fracking ban may have been premature.

The company headed into court last week to be told by James Mure, QC for the Scottish Government, that the First Minister’s statements on an effective ban were merely a PR “gloss”.

This is some PR “gloss”, especially if you watch the First Minister’s speech in Holyrood last year when she adamantly stated “fracking is banned in Scotland, end of story and we should all be happy”.

How can present and future business people in the UK and abroad plan investments in Scotland when our government is driven by PR gloss and not by the kind of sensible and proper decision making that would allow our country’s economy to thrive and move forward?

This fracking ban is a classic example of the SNP trying to win “popular” votes and keep the Green party onside so they can push through any other ill thought out ideas and PR seeking opportunities that may sway people towards independence.

My message to the Scottish Government is, let’s have proper discussions and rational decision making on real business opportunities, that, if taken correctly, can be safely executed by Scottish, UK and international companies.

We do this every day in the North Sea, so why should fracking on land be different?

However having this discussion with the majority of the Scottish Government will be a challenge based on this summary by Tom Pickering of INEOS – “Sadly we seem to have reached the Alice in Wonderland situation where a business has to go to the Scottish courts to establish whether announcements in Holyrood can be taken at face value”. John Godsman. East Lodge, Kirktown of Fetteresso.