Leadership contenders’ silence over fracking shows Labour divisions

There appears to be silence from the two Labour leadership contenders on the Scottish Government’s extended moratorium on fracking, as an outright ban as proposed by Labour would be challenged in the courts.

However, earlier this year Richard Leonard and his GMB Union backed fracking at its annual conference, saying it would cut fuel bills, whereas Anas Sarwar joined with other Labour MPS, including Ian Murray, to abstain on a House of Commons amendment for a UK wide moratorium on fracking in January 2015.

Unlike the rest of the UK, Scotland doesn’t need to import gas but the Tory UK government pulled the plug on carbon capture in Scotland which was short-sighted, as Shell, Statoil and Total have just formed a partnership to develop full-scale carbon capture and storage in Norway.

Although there is a strong case against underground fracking near areas of population, there remains a huge potential for deep offshore coal gasification, using the same methods as in North Sea oil drilling, which could prove to be another massive energy bonanza for Scotland and power the whole of the UK for around one hundred years.

MARY THOMAS Watson Crescent, Edinburgh It is a bit late now for all the outrage against fracking. Industry leaders – especially the North Sea operators and supply chain, politicians, business owners, large sections of the media and quangoes, who for years have seen the benefits of fracking but were either too cowed by SNP patronage, funding and threat, or unable to find a compelling message and medium – have now suddenly found their voice.

To say that public opinion has to be recognised is outrageous: there is only one strand of public opinion, a genuine concern for the planet held by us all, but fuelled by, to put it mildly, lack of evidence and wilful withholding of objective UK and Scottish Government reports on the potential, safety and environmental regulations.

But the big driver for Nicola Sturgeon’s virtue-signalling is not what is best for the Scottish people and economy, it is her desperation to retain the votes of six Green MSPS who between them at the last Holyrood elections won 13,172 first preference votes.

Independence, you see, transcends everything – Brexit, oil and the economy. And with no Green-supported SNP government there can be no independence. ALLAN SUTHERLAND Willow Row, Stonehaven