Rishi Sunak Brings Back Ban on Fracking on First Day as UK PM

Fracking refers to the contentious practice of extracting gas by drilling shale rock.

Rishi Sunak.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Rishi Sunak)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday, 26 October restored the moratorium on fracking, overturning Liz Truss' decision to rescind the ban last month.

Fracking refers to the contentious practice of extracting gas and oil by drilling shale rock.

Sunak indicated that he was committed to his position, which was underlined in the conservative party's manifesto in 2019. "I have already said I stand by the manifesto on that," he stated, when Green MP Caroline Lucas asked him a question pertaining to the matter, reported BBC.

• Sunak reinstated the ban during his first Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

• His predecessor, Truss had lifted the moratorium in September, saying that fracking would increase the country's gas supplies, easing the burden of rising energy bills.

• Fracking has been under ire of environmental groups and local communities, with Green MP Caroline Lucas calling the lifting the ban as a 'wrecking ball to nature'.

• The controversial process has also been linked to triggering of small earthquakes.

The Ban on Fracking

On 22 September, the Liz Truss-led conservative government had overturned the ban on fracking, prompting backlash from several Tory MPs.

In November 2019, after sustained pressure from environmental and local community groups, the Boris Johnson administration had announced a moratorium on shale rock fracking.

This had followed a review into a series of recent earthquakes at a shale site in Lancashire.

The business and energy secretary in 2019, Andrea Leadsom, had said, "after reviewing the Oil and Gas Authority's report into recent seismic activity at Preston New Road, it is clear that we cannot rule out future unacceptable impacts on the local community."