Amesbury claims ‘the cat is out the bag’ over fracking
‘THE cat is out of the bag’ with regards to Tory support for fracking according to midCheshire and east Runcorn MP Mike Amesbury.
He cited Prime Minister Theresa May who told the House Of Commons that shale gas was an ‘important potential new source of energy’.
Mr Amesbury has been a vocal opponent of fracking, having recently visited demonstrations at Rocksavage in Runcorn and Preston New Road near Blackpool.
The controversial method for extracting gas has been banned in European countries such as Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, France and Germany, and Labour has said it will ban it outright if it wins the next election.
The Labour MP said most of Cheshire is already licensed for exploration and production by IGas and Ineos.
Ineos has also secured a legal injunction against any would-be protestors which said that protesters may be imprisoned, fined or have ● ● their assets seized if they cause any obstruction to the firm’s fracking operations. Mr Amesbury also branded jobs claims connected to shale gas as ‘overblown’, arguing that extraction company Cuadrilla had claimed production would create 1,700 jobs in Lancashire, but Friends Of The Earth has said this is for one year only, and will fall to under 200 three years later. The Weaver Vale MP said: “It deeply saddens me that some of the stunning countryside in my constituency could one day be ripped up for this environmentally destructive practice. “Let’s be clear: only big business stands to be the winners from fracking – the rest of us will be losers. “We cannot, and will not give up this fight.” Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions recently, Theresa May said: “This is an important potential new source of energy, and it is right we should use it and take the benefits from it.”