Labour promotes Bill to ban fracking in Scotland

LABOUR IS to bring forward a Bill aimed at banning fracking in Scotland.

The Scottish Government introduced a moratorium barring the controversial method of extracting gas in January 2015, but ministers have still to decide if this should be made permanent.

Labour environment spokeswoman Claudia Beamish will announce today that she will press ahead with a Member’s Bill that would outlaw it.

She said: “The SNP has repeatedly failed to ban on-shore fracking in Scotland – so Labour will do it.”

Ms Beamish added: “The climate science is irrefutable. Scotland does not need a new fossil fuel as we shift towards a low-carbon economy.

“People across Scotland are also rightly concerned about the potential health implications of unconventional oil and gas extraction.

“This is about Scotland’s future, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the condition we leave our planet in for our children and our grandchildren.”

In June 2016 MSPs at Holyrood voted in favour of a Labour motion calling for an outright ban on fracking.

Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said at the time that the vote ‘’will not deflect Government’’ from its current policy, which is to maintain the moratorium on fracking until it has canvassed expert and public opinion.

Ms Beamish stated: “The Scottish Parliament has already voted to ban fracking in Scotland, but the SNP has refused to listen and kicked the decision into the long grass.

“This Bill will ban fracking – the people of Scotland do not want it and our environment does not need it.”

Environmental campaigners at Friends of the Earth Scotland congratulated Ms Beamish on winning cross-party support for her Bill.

Director Richard Dixon said: “If the Scottish Government decide to propose a ban on fracking it needs to be a permanent ban in law, not just a ban in policy, and Scottish Labour are keeping up the pressure to make sure Scotland does the right thing and outlaws these new fossil fuels forever.”