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The government’s decision to lift its fracking moratorium means that people living in rural areas will be treated “like guinea pigs”, critics have said.
On Thursday, business and energy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said the move would increase the country’s energy security and would drive down bills.
But politicians and environmental campaigners pointed out that ministers have yet to release evidence that drilling for shale gas is safe. They also said it was “nonsense” that fracking would drive down energy bills.
“That they choose to plough on regardless shows a callous disregard for our communities and countryside. From Surrey to Somerset, the government is treating people in rural areas like guinea pigs,” Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse said.
Speaking in the Commons, shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said the policy could lead to earthquakes, adding that people in counties like Lancashire and Dorset would be part of a “dangerous experiment”.
Addressing the U-turn directly, he said: "Let me tell the party opposite: we will hang this broken promise around their necks in every part of the country between now and the next general election."
