Ed Miliband to announce total ban on fracking – UK politics live
Ed Miliband to announce total ban on fracking – UK politics live
Helena Horton is a Guardian environment reporter.
Ed Miliband is due to take to the stage to deliver his speech today, and he is set to announce a “total ban” on fracking.
There is currently a moratorium on the controversial energy extraction method which involves drilling deep into the earth then shooting at high speed a mixture of sand, water and chemicals to dislodge shale gas. Reform UK supports fracking across Britain, but it is unpopular as it causes earthquakes.
Miliband told the campaign group 38 Degrees:
I am about to announce something you have been calling for and campaigning on, which is to ban fracking for good. You called for it, I’m going to do it, thank you for your campaigning.
Veronica Hawking, campaigns director at 38 Degrees said:
What an amazing result for our environment, our local communities, and the thousands of committed people and groups right across the country who’ve spent years fighting for fracking to be banned for good – including the many who signed 38 Degrees supporter Geoff’s recent petition. Not long ago, it felt like fracking might make a comeback, with Reform UK pushing to put it back on the agenda. But thousands of us stood up, demanded a permanent ban, and made our voices impossible to ignore.
There is not currently a permanent ban in law, just a temporary moratorium, which was briefly lifted by Liz Truss in 2022 then reinstated by her successor Rishi Sunak.
