20th August 2014

A new series on BBC Radio 4, which uses techniques from mediation and conflict resolution, begins tonight (Wednesday August 20^th) with the issue of fracking. But the arguments in favour will not be put by politicians or industry but by an ex-academic.

Agree to Differ says it seeks to discover what divides people with opposing views and to establish if there is anything they can agree on.

The two sides in tonight’s programme are represented by the environmental writer and Guardian columnist, George Monbiot, and James Woudhuysen, formerly professor of forecasting and innovation at De Montfort University in Leicester.

James Woudhuysen, now a speaker and writer, argued in favour of fracking at a debate in Lewes in October last year. On that occasion, he said fracking was a highly productive innovation that was worth exploring in the UK because it could make a big difference towards meeting energy demand. The audience voted overwhelmingly against his opinions.

George Monbiot is frequently critical of fracking. Last month he attacked the Infrastructure Bill for exempting fracking companies from the trespass laws, while in May he accused the government of fantasising about “turning the leafy suburbs into a new Niger delta”. To this end, he said, the government was “offering lavish bribes to local people”. Reserves of shale gas and oil solve nothing, he said. “They do not end our hunger for resources; they exacerbate it”.

The programme-makers said protagonists in debates over issues like fracking usually spend more time attacking and caricaturing each other than they do addressing the heart of the issue. Agree to Differ, they say, seeks to be different in establishing what divides them.

But like many other debates about fracking – either public or broadcast – it has not brought politicians or the industry onto the pro-fracking platform. On previous occasions, the drilling companies and MPs have turned down the opportunity to debate.  In this case, it appears they weren’t invited. A BBC spokesperson said: “The aim of the programme is to talk to two people with diametrically opposed ideas and the two people in the programme are known campaigners; we did not want politicians or industry experts.” 

• Agree to Differ is presented by Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts and is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm