Former PM Truss calls for fracking in Lincolnshire

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has called for fracking to be introduced in Lincolnshire claiming the county "is one of the best places to exploit our energy reserves".

Truss was speaking at the Great Exhibition event at the Lincolnshire Showground, which is being hosted by the county's elected mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns.

Fracking, which involves drilling into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals at rock to release the gas inside, is currently paused in the UK and the government is considering a permanent ban.

Conservative politician Truss said that "Lincolnshire has a huge shale gas opportunity."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Truss told the conference: "We saw what shale gas did in the United States."

"It made manufacturing much cheaper. It delivered not just an energy boom but also an economic boom in that country.

"It will offer huge benefits to farmers who are facing rising costs in areas like fertiliser.

"It will offer huge benefits to the fishing industry, to the tourism industry in Lincolnshire."

The process of fracking is controversial as there are concerns it can lead to earthquakes and impact the environment.

Truss lifted the fracking ban in 2022, but faced opposition from some of her own backbench MPs just before she resigned after 44 days as prime minister.

The ban was reintroduced by her successor Rishi Sunak.

Jenkyns supported the speech, and said: "I'd love to see that but there's a moratorium on fracking at the moment, so it won't happen under a Labour government, as it didn't happen under a Tory government."

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: "We intend to ban fracking for good and make Britain a clean energy superpower, to bring energy security, lower bills, and protect current and future generations."

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