Now Hunt blasts Gove over gas drilling plans
JeReMY hunt reacted angrily yesterday after Michael Gove’s department gave permission for gas drilling to start in his constituency.
housing minister stuart Andrew said UK Oil and Gas could conduct exploratory drilling for three years at the site on the edge of the surrey hills.
Mr hunt, who has previously joined constituents at protests against the proposed drilling site, condemned the decision to approve the works at the location near the hills, which are designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).
the former Cabinet minister, who joined the failed putsch against Boris Johnson earlier this week, said the move was ‘bitterly disappointing and wrong both economically and environmentally’.
In a letter to Mr Gove, the housing secretary, he said the project has been strongly opposed by ‘the entire local community’ in his south West surrey constituency.
he accused the department for levelling Up, housing and Communities of ‘ignoring the strength of local opinion’, causing ‘enormous anger and disappointment across all political parties’ while also damaging the Government’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions.
Mr Gove recused himself because of the proximity of his surrey heath constituency to the area, so the decision was made by Mr Andrew instead.
surrey County Council said its planning committee refused permission for the proposal in december 2019, but after a public inquiry in 2021, planning inspectors recommended that an appeal against this decision should be allowed.
the council said it is ‘disappointed’ at the move.
tom Fyans, of the Campaign to Protect Rural england, said: ‘Approving the drilling of a gas well in the surrey countryside is an absurd decision that’s guaranteed to provoke fury and despair.
‘It’s extraordinary, given the urgent need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, that the Government sees fit to green light a gas field and damage the setting of an AONB. Given the scale of opposition to this plan, it is hard to see how the project can go ahead without mass protests.’
It comes after Mr hunt broke cover to call for Mr Johnson to be removed on Monday ahead of the no-confidence vote by tory MPs.
the former foreign secretary warned the Conservative Party would be defeated at the next election unless the PM was removed, leading to accusations of ‘duplicity’ by Culture secretary Nadine dorries.
Yesterday Mr hunt said he felt it
‘Ignoring strength of local opinion’ You only have one chance to shoot the King, you can’t miss Boris Johnson ally’s broadside in yesterday’s Mail
was his ‘duty’ to vote against Mr Johnson’s leadership and warned that the Partygate affair was still ‘overshadowing’ the Government’s achievements.
Mr hunt wrote in his local paper, the Farnham herald: ‘I felt Monday was a moment when I needed to let everyone know where I stood – even though I knew some would disagree strongly with what I said.’
this week a close ally of the Prime Minister said Mr hunt had ‘used up his one bullet’ against Mr Johnson, adding: ‘You only have one chance to shoot the King. You can’t miss.’