Boris hauled over the coals

BORIS Johnson has insisted that although he is against ‘more coal’ the potential opening of a new colliery in Cumbria is not his decison to make.

Under fierce questioning about the plan, the Prime Minister said in Glasgow: ‘I’m not in favour of more coal, let’s be absolutely clear, but it’s not a decision for me.’ He told the BBC: ‘It’s a decision for local planning authorities.’

West Cumbria Mining wants to open a new deep coal mine near Whitehaven to extract metallurgical or coking coal for the steel industry.

The plan has been approved three times by Cumbria County Council since 2017 but in March it was ‘called in’ for an inquiry. A decision is due soon.

Tony Bosworth of Friends of the Earth disputed Mr Johnson’s assertion, saying: ‘The final decision will rest with his Government, based on the evidence presented at the recent public inquiry, which overwhelmingly showed permission should be refused.’