ED MIliband has been slammed for putting a ban on fracking – as Reform insist they will reverse the decision.
The Energy Secretary came under fire over vowing to permanently ban the method of extracting oil and gas from shale rock.
GettyEd MIliband has pledged to permanently ban fracking[/caption]
He made the announcement at the Labour party conference in Liverpool where he told activists to “send this bunch of frackers packing”.
The Cabinet Minister used his speech to launch an attack on Reform who will immediately make a u-turn on the decision if they came to power.
But Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Ed Miliband negligently announces total ban on valuable shale gas opportunities. Reform UK will immediately reverse this when we win power.
“Local Gas creates jobs & cheap energy for lower bills.”
The intervention from Reform came after Mr Miliband said that the drilling was “dangerous and deeply harmful to our natural environment”.
Fracking is a method of extracting oil and gas from shale rock, by pumping liquids deep underground at high pressures to release the gas trapped inside.
There is a de facto ban on fracking in the UK, originally brought in six years ago.
Ministers ended its support for fracking following an Oil and Gas Authority report found it was not possible to accurately predict the probability of tremors associated with the drilling.
Mr Miliband became the latest member of the Cabinet to aim fire at Reform during their conference speech.
Both Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves used their high-profile appearances to slam the party leader.
It has led Mr Farage to say that the Prime Minister is obsessing over him.
But Mr Miliband painted Farage “and his cronies” as “ideological extremists” in his speech.
He added: “And we know where they want to go next because they have told us – fracking. Fracking in your communities. Fracking will not take a penny off bills. It will not create long-term sustainable jobs.
“It will trash our climate commitments, and it is dangerous and deeply harmful to our natural environment.
“Friends, the good news is that communities have fought back and won this fight before and will do so again.”
The fracking ban was lifted by Liz Truss during her short tenure in Downing Street – but this was then abandoned by her successor Rishi Sunak.
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