Fifth of Labour and Lib Dem candidates pledge to defy party line on fracking
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Version 0 of 1. More than one in five Liberal Democrat and Labour election candidates have pledged to oppose fracking in defiance of their parties’ promises to foster the industry during the next parliament. Seven of the Lib Dem front bench team, including spokespeople for the environment and energy, voiced their opposition to the party line. The pledge, circulated by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, asked candidates to promise: “If my constituency is at risk of fracking, I will oppose it. If my constituency is not at risk, I will oppose fracking nationwide.” It has been signed by more than 1,000 prospective MPs from all seven of the parties who stood in the leaders’ debates. According to one list of candidates, this represents a quarter of those standing in the election. Roughly half of these come from the Green party which opposes fracking. Just three Conservatives have signed. Of the 630 candidates each being fielded by Labour and the Lib Dems, 153 and 143 respectively made the promise. A staffer for Lib Dem spokeswoman for energy and climate change Tessa Munt confirmed that stopping fracking would be one of her priorities in the next parliament and that this involved working within the party to change its stance. She joined environment spokesman Roger Williams and five of her front bench colleagues in signing the pledge. Last month in an interview with Carbon Brief, Lib Dem secretary of state for energy and climate change Ed Davey distanced himself from “crazy” Tory “frack-baby-frackers”, who want to “frack every bit of croquet lawn”. However Davey, like his party, still supports well-regulated fracking. A Lib Dem spokesman said there was no ongoing discussion about changing the party policy, which he said supported a well-regulated industry that would aid the transition to a low-carbon economy. “The UK has significant stores of unconventional gas, which could be accessed through the process known as fracking. It is vital that efforts to access this gas be properly regulated to protect our natural environment,” he said. Labour’s support for fracking has been qualified with calls for stronger regulation, with the party being instrumental in stopping the last government from watering down rules that ban fracking in national parks and near aquifers. But the party’s attitude towards shale gas remains generally enthusiastic. Greenpeace UK energy and climate campaigner Sam Pearse said the pledge had provided an outlet for disaffected politicians to voice their opposition to the party line. A survey by Comres, commissioned by Greenpeace, released in March found the electorate split on fracking. Support for the industry was running at 42% and opposition at 35%. But as a voting issue, a candidate’s support for fracking emerged as a deal-breaker for many voters. Candidates who supported fracking in their constituency would lose the support of 31% of voters and gain the support of just 13%. The Comres results are broadly in line with other polls which have shown the British public roughly split down the middle on fracking. |