Less than 24 hours after a chaotic parliamentary vote on fracking, the prime minister has resigned.
Photo: Frack Free Lancashire
Liz Truss made her announcement in Downing Street at 1.30pm, as Conservative MPs who publicly opposed fracking but voted against a ban took to social media to explain their position.
The government had initially made yesterday’s vote, brought by Labour, a vote of no confidence in the government.
This forced Conservatives to choose between defying the party’s 2019 manifesto pledge on the fracking moratorium or risking expulsion. But about 10 minutes before the vote, the instruction changed.
There were chaotic scenes outside the chamber, with reports of Conservatives, some in tears, being manhandled into the No lobby. See “I’ll never forget chaotic vote that sank Liz Truss”
A group who defied party managers and abstained were waiting this morning to learn what would happen to them.
Lifting the moratorium on fracking was a key part of Liz Truss’s leadership bid. The moratorium was introduced nearly three years ago after fracking by Cuadrilla at Preston New Road in Lancashire caused earthquakes.
Chris Holliday, an opponent of fracking, who lives opposite the Preston New Road site, was watching yesterday’s debate, when he said:
“It is hard to imagine that a debate triggered by what happened in a field across the road from where we live could potentially end up bringing down the government”.
Dennis May, of Frack Free Misson, a group opposed to the IGas shale gas site at Springs Road in north Nottinghamshire, said this afternoon:
“The root cause of the Commons voting shenanigans was definitely public pressure on Tory MPs to oppose fracking. Some of them have now lost all credibility on the issue, having backed a PM who resigned less than 24 hours later.”
Miranda Cox, of Frack Free Lancashire, said:
“The government has U-turned on its 2019 election manifesto to lift the moratorium on fracking.
“If it U-turns on its recent announcement to consult local residents and offer a veto, they will be treating constituents, local MPs and elected representatives with contempt.
“Conservative-led Lancashire County Council and Fylde Council both unanimously voted last week to see reassurance from central government on this matter.
“They understand the strong and unwavering level of opposition to fracking across Lancashire.
“Jacob Rees-Mogg would be well advised to listen to us.”
David Burley, of Frack Free South Yorkshire, said:
“Liz Truss never really understood the depth of feeling against fracking. To order her MPs to oppose a manifesto promise was unnecessary and self destructive.”
Steve Mason, director of Frack Free United, a nationwide campaign against fracking, said:
“It just goes to show the contentious issue that fracking is and how divisive it is in every community including Westminster. My advice to the next leader is to pledge to keep the moratorium in place as is in the manifesto.”
Frack Free United joined CPRE and Friends of the Earth yesterday to issue a joint briefing paper for MPs on fracking.
Dave Timms, head of political affairs, Friends of the Earth, said today:
“There were many factors to Liz Truss’ downfall, but the vote on fracking that descended into chaos, accusations of bullying and MPs defying a three-line whip in Parliament, could certainly be seen as the final nail in the coffin.
“Truss’ government was completely out of touch with the vast majority of people in the UK, who care about the climate, want to protect our environment and expect action. Many of her MPs recognised her policies were at odds with people’s concerns and priorities.
“Future Prime Ministers beware. Attempting to revive fracking, and the massive assault on environmental protection and the planning system that became known as the attack on nature, are sure-fire ways to cement a short tenure at the top. Now the only thing that’s fracked is Truss’ career.”
CPRE Lancashire said:
“We are pleased that Liz Truss who lifted the fracking moratorium without any evidence it is safe has gone. Her position was untenable. We hope her replacement has a better approach to looking after our natural environment.”
Matthew Wilkinson, of Woodsetts against Fracking, a community group which opposed Ineos shale gas plans in south Yorkshire, said:
“I think Liz Truss has now realised that fracking causes earthquakes.”
Greenpeace UK said on Twitter:
“It’s fitting that the last act of Liz Truss’s government was to force her own MPs to break a manifesto commitment by voting for an unpopular, unproven fracking industry that has no future. The lesson for whoever succeeds her as Prime Minister couldn’t be clearer.”
Shares in shale gas companies fell on the news.
IGas dropped nearly 9% but later recovered some of the losses. At the time of writing, it was down 4.4% at 34.35.
Egdon Resources, one of the top four shale gas licence holders, fell 8.5% to 3.11p.
Shares in Cuadrilla’s owner, the Australian mining group A J Lucas, were down 15.46% at the time of writing at 0.082 Australian dollars.
- A new prime minister is expected to be chosen within the next week. At the time of writing, no Conservatives had put themselves forward. Rishi Sunak is expected to stand. There is also talk that the candidates could include the former prime minister, Boris Johnson. Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out. Labour has called for a general election.
Update: “I’ll never forget chaotic vote that sank Liz Truss”
Updated 24/11/22
The former chief whip, Wendy Morton, today described the chaotic fracking vote as
“one of those nights that I will probably never forget”
She told the BBC Politics Live programme that many Tory MPs were refusing to vote with the government about the Labour motion calling for a vote to ban fracking.
MPs had been told it amounted to a confidence vote in the government, in an effort to get them in line. Ms Morton said:
“That’s why I took the stance that I did, as chief whip.
“We were expecting colleagues to be in the lobby with us.”
But there was confusion when the climate minister, Graham Stuart, suggested near the end of the debate that it was not a confidence vote.
In her first TV interview on the subject, Ms Morton said she resigned as chief whip because “No 10 were interfering” in the vote.
Liz Truss would not accept the resignation and Ms Morton continued in post. But the next day, the prime minister stepped down.
The chairman of the 1922 backbench committee of Conservative MPs, Sir Graham Brady, told the BBC he had decided to tell Ms Truss her position was “unsustainable” after the “utter chaos” of the vote.
Categories: Politics, slider, Uncategorized
DRILL OR DROP? 
Will integrity be a requirement for any future leader of the Conservative party? Does
moral rectitude count?
If so, does it follow that opposition to fracking is a sine qua non?
Discuss.
Yes, at least an average amount of moral sensibility.is required which disqualifies Boris, I read that that he was described in his Eton School Report as someone who thought rules did not apply to him. He hasn’t changed one iota.
Regarding policy I think we need someone who is committed to growth in the economy while controlling inflation and someone who realises that energy policy has 4 strands….
1. Environmental concerns – carbon & pollution.
2. Cost to the consumer – avoiding fuel poverty.
3. Security of supply = eg reliance on imported LNG.
4. Reliability of supply – ensuring supply is there 24/7 and can flexibly cope with changes in demand.
To my mind these factors suggest that support for shale gas should be part of the new governments first policy initiatives although I suspect it will take this grim winter to focus minds.
Greed and donations from oil and gas companies made and destroyed this government, the decent Tories couldn’t take anymore embarrassment, so the answer is yes ,, thankfully 😅
Have the Tories who abstained (and it’s a very interesting list, including Boris) had the whip withdrawn yet, or is that another broken Tory promise?
The industry lobbyists have failed miserably.
The tax breaks the shale gas industry was pinning their hopes on will now never materialise. Any plans to fast track planning will also be scrapped. There will be no coming back from this. UK shale gas. No support, no investors, no future.
This week’s rota for Chancellor of The Exchequer:
Friday Jeremy Hunt
Saturday Mr Blobby
Sunday Larry the Cat
Monday The Chuckle Brothers
Tuesday Tommy Cooper
Wednesday Basil Brush
Thursday to be confirmed after Strictly Come Dancing results tomorrow.
Dr Frank, this is my Halloween possible calendar for 2022- 2023
November 2022 – Putin again notes the vulnerability of U.K.-Norway gas pipeline to “accidental damage”. Europe fails to reach agreement on gas import price cap leading to price battle for imported LNG.
December 2022 – shortage of diesel due to ban on diesel imports from Russia and limited refinery capacity across Europe. Diesel prices rise about £2.20 a litre, concern about lorry delivery problems pushing up food prices and possible shortages in the supermarkets. Lorry drivers take industrial action due to rising costs.
January 2023 – 3 hour rolling blackouts of electricity due to import problems and high pressure system over the U.K. meaning both wind and solar combined contribute less than 15% of our electricity supply. 50% increase in winter deaths of the elderly due to cold homes.
February 2023 – crisis worsens with public unrest and widespread large public demonstrations. Consideration of a national coalition government. Cobra committee in frequent session. Emergency measures such as warm sanctuaries in libraries and town halls in frequent use.
March 2023 – gradual recovery as Spring approaches, government promises to foster development of shale gas portraying it as a new initiative.
Don’t forget the scenario regarding our own home grown North sea oil and gas where all the hundreds of thousands of our workers all get more than 1 puncture on the same day and can’t make it into work to produce the 40% plus gas that the UK produces for our home and export market.
John, you’ve been reminding us of North Sea production on this site for donkey’s years so I guess you may have a personal connection. I’ll just mention that oil production platforms have bigger risks than you describe.
Did fracking break the government? Absolutely not. Coincidence, even correlation is not equivalent to cause. It was the middle & upper class Conservative Members (mainly home counties & southern England) who voted for Liz Truss (the majority of Conservative MPs did not). She played to their fears & aspirations- such as making the most of “Brexit” (demographic analysis of the Brexit vote show that many elderly people voted for Brexit- no thought about how that would affect the younger generation) ; tax cuts (as the Conservative Members mostly have gold plated pensions & pay income tax on them). The only connection between the fracking Vote & the timing of Liz Truss’s demise is that Labour used this emotive lever to cause confusion & disarray in the Conservative Party. Liz was doomed by her awful & naiive, unfunded tax cuts (including to the very rich), stopping the cap on bankers bonuses, and not consulting with Treasury (indeed sacking he most experienced civil servant who opposed the Quasi “Chancellor” – compounding the damage done to experienced civil servants who challenged the Boris under his regime (cf Cummings & “goings), nor the Bank of England, or the OBR!. In just a few weeks. She also fired her hand picked Chancellor, & Home Secretary within her short reign. Truss has damaged the reputation of our country internationally, & particularly damaged those seeking to have a home of their own by crashing the £ & increasing interest rates. The weakness of the £ enhancing inflation. Truss was doomed primarily from her Black Friday mini budget (promising things that were undeliverable) & mishandling of her self appointed cabinet! Not fracking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Pw4t_Falo
Frack On !
The Woke Antis have truly lost the plot!! Haha… glass syringe injections, anti plastic surgeries and donations.. cheerio get back to a medieval existence parasites!
Yes, yes, dear. Time for bed.
Do we really need the highly toxic , dangerous , energy intensive Fracking , putting the final nail in the environmental coffin ???????
David Attenborough brings viewers to tears as he makes ‘urgent final plea’
https://www.ladbible.com/news/david-attenborough-frozen-planet-plea-20221020
Well MARTIN ,
The message is clear , a sharp , immediate reduction in fossil fuels and a sharp , immediate increase in renewables.
Take a listen to what David Attenborough has to say .
Jack, as Sir David makes a fortune from jetting around the world, of course he needs something to continue to justify that! Maybe he will make a big donation towards the £160B for new nuclear that has just been “discovered” is required to support unreliable renewables? And all the other £Bs yet to be “discovered”, including with two new ships to protect the underwater links for energy and communication, that were secure a short while ago, and are now “discovered” to be insecure.
The message is clear, Jack, as given by a previous chief scientific officer here in the UK. Humanity needs to pay attention to arithmetic and physics in respect of renewables. You know what happens when they don’t?
Warnings of energy not being available, huge increases in prices and people actually dying due a combination of those two in some of the richest countries of the world. Nah, that couldn’t happen, could it? Well, Jack, it just has. Not a problem for Sir David, but for millions of others it is.
MARTIN , please don’t insult our intelligence
For DECADES we knew this time was coming, but we just chose to kick the can down the road .
” ALL ” the low hanging fruit , ” the easy yto get fossil fuels have now GONE ” When the energy intensive process of Fracking becomes a consideration , then we really know that humanity is panicking , desperately wanting to scrape the bottom of the fossil fuel barrel.
With climate change giving us a ” very light taster ” of of what extreme weather can look like . It’s the stuff of NIGHTMARES trying to imagine weather many times worse , more often .
MARTIN , please quantify, down to the nearest £ TRILLION , what the costs of climate change will be on planet earth by the year 2050 ??????
The time for going all out for renewables is right now , if we don’t our children will suffer the extreme consequences .
As far as MARTIN the great , trying to chip away at Sir David Attenborough , well thats laughable , truly laughable , but providing a laugh is what you do best .
So, the renewables that are not doing the job will do the job if there are more of them, Jack?
Nope. Hence £160BN suddenly drawn out from down the back of UK sofa to try and fill some of the gaping holes. Except, that will take 30 years to fill. Where is that £160B coming from Jack? It is coming from the pockets of those energy bill payers who cannot afford current energy prices.
Your comment about availability of fossil fuel is just ignorance. There are countries around the world with huge reserves that have hardly been touched and others where constraints are placed upon them marketing their reserves. Scientists Jack have calculated that USA Shale oilfields hold about 190B barrels of recoverable oil altogether, of which 94% has yet to be produced.
So, Jack, as normal, you suggest one situation claiming it to be fact, when it isn’t.
MARTIN ,
YOU keep banging on about this £160 bn , well for JACK and the readers, let’s see you break this figure down into Pounds and Pence and show exactly where the money will be spent and how this will directly effect the UK Taxpayer .
Please also provide evidence to support your comments in the form of ” LINKS. ” Please note that in failure to do so , will leave JACK and the readers with no other option than to accept that what you say is your , Wild-Off-The-Cuff ” OPINION ” only .
THANK YOU
Well MARTIN , in reference to your above comment , last paragraph, . JACK is claiming this to be FACT , what do you think ??????
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/living-near-or-downwind-of-unconventional-oil-and-gas-development-linked-with-increased-risk-of-early-death/
and this
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2015/study-fracking-industry-wells-associated-with-premature-birth
and this
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1603021
Well MARTIN , are you disputing this as not ” FACTUAL ” ??????
If you are , please show JACK and the readers your evidence , not just your OPINION .
THANK YOU
David Attenborough is a nice old bloke with an opinion, I can find plenty of those down the pub without watching videos. . I’m another old bloke and my opinion is that no amount of renewables ( except hydro and word chip burning) would save us from blackouts if there is a freezing, windless night in February unless there is fossil fuel or nuclear backup.
He might get his wish for less fossil fuels. Russia directly ships us 18% of our refined diesel fuel and this is planned to end in early February in solidarity with Ukraine. But woops what do we us diesel for? Answers on a recycled postcard to Green Party HQ.