In this Fracking Week in Westminster only one reference to shale and onshore oil and gas:
- Lord Lawson describes the Lancashire refusal of Cuadrilla’s planning application for fracking as “deplorable” – and Government minister, Baroness Williams, agrees.
14th October 2015
Northern Powerhouse debate
Question by Lord Lawson of Blaby (Conservative)
Is it not clear that what would offer the best possible prospects for the economy of the north-west and Lancashire in particular is developing the immense natural gas resources of the Bowland shale? Is it not deplorable that the Labour-led Lancashire County Council has prevented this from happening so far?
Reply by Baroness Williams of Trafford, Minister for Communities and Local Government
My noble friend makes an excellent point. This is a one-off opportunity for the areas of Lancashire to maximise their assets and to be self-sufficient in how they derive energy, so I could not agree more with my noble friend.
With thanks to TheyWorkForYou.com for the transcript
Categories: Politics
DRILL OR DROP? 
Lord Lawson carries little weight.
” to be self-sufficient in how they derive energy… ” And, what will being self sufficient in how they derive energy do for the people of Lancashire? The fracked gas will belong to whoever owns the PEDL license, NOT the hard working families of Lancashire and the North West who will continue to buy gas from their current suppliers at whatever the market determines the price to be. Meanwhile, these same hard working people of the North West and Lancashire will suffer the noise and light pollution of fracking sites, the hundreds of vehicle movements and associated road deterioration, the short and long term health impacts, and the environmental damage that fracking brings.
Where in this equation is there any benefit for the people of Lancashire and the North West Baroness Williams of Trafford?
How on earth these people get in gov is beyond me. Conflating anti frack opinion with how bad is the labour party and economic prospects beggars belief.
It’s long since overdue that we subject all parliamentarians to checks on IQ levels, reasoning ability along with investigation into how capable they are of putting the nations interests above that of party spin and banking profits.