Liz Truss will lift ban on fracking within days of becoming Prime Minister
LIZ Truss will lift the fracking ban within days of becoming Prime Minister.
The Tory leadership favourite will give the green light to extracting shale gas as experts warn the lights could go out this winter.
She will only allow it to take place with backing from the nearby community but 25 per cent discounts on bills may be offered as an incentive by fracking firms.
A source close to Truss, expected to win the race to No10, said: “It will be one of the first things that gets done – it could be within the first few days.”
Drilling has been effectively banned since 2019.
Truss will have the backing of Jacob Rees-Mogg, expected to be her Business Secretary, who sees the current energy crisis as worse than the early 1970s, friends say.
Read More on Liz Truss
Charles McAllister, of UK Onshore Oil and Gas, said lifting the ban “gives the opportunity to unleash one of the greatest economic, environmental and geopolitical opportunities the UK has seen in a generation.”
The move comes as households face being asked to ration gas and electricity use to avoid blackouts.
Cash incentives for reducing consumption when wind input is low could even be offered to millions.
Kathryn Porter, of Watt-Logic consultancy, said the “risk of blackouts is higher than it has ever been before” because of the growing reliance on renewable energy.
Most read in Politics
Stricken business chiefs said they need a multi-billion pound rescue package within days to avoid them going to the wall.
Proposals including cuts in VAT and business rates are being worked on by the Treasury ahead of the new PM taking office.
