Anti-fracking campaigners in Lancashire ready to ‘pull out all the stops’ again

Workers at Cuadrilla's fracking site in Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, Lancashire. Credit: PA Images

Campaigners in Lancashire are preparing to “pull out all the stops” in a second fight against fracking.

The Prime Minister Liz Truss announced in Parliament that the ban on fracking would be lifted in England. It means production could begin within six months.

Anti-fracking protesters previously spent 1,000 days outside the Cuadrilla fracking site in Little Plumpton, near Blackpool.

They were joined along the way by celebrity supporters including Vivienne Westwood and Emma Thompson.

Truss lifts fracking ban to tackle energy crisis

Protesters thought their battle was won in November 2019 when a moratorium on fracking was announced following tremors at the site.

But on Thursday, Liz Truss said she hopes to get gas flowing from onshore shale wells in as little as six months where there is “local support”.

Liz Truss has lifted the fracking ban and pushed domestic energy to tackle bills crisis Credit: PA Images

Campaigner Julie Daniels, 62, said: “Liz Truss has no idea what she’s talking about. She thinks we’re going to be pumping gas within six months. What ignorance.”

Ms Daniels and three fellow members of campaign group 'Nanas', set up to oppose fracking in the county, arrived at the site following the Prime Minister’s announcement wearing yellow “frack free” tabards and with “no fracking” placards.

What is fracking, why is it controversial and how come it is back on the agenda?

Ms Daniels said she felt “ill” when she heard Ms Truss’s announcement.

“We didn’t think we’d have to come back. We worked tirelessly for years.

"It went on and on and we were mostly held together by the solidarity of the community and from right across the UK.”

She added: “Nobody wants to do this again but if we don’t object, if we don’t push back, who is going to stop it?”

The Prime Minister speaking in Parliament

Fellow campaigner Tina Rothery, 60, said: “We will oppose this with legal challenges, planning applications.

"We will call on Extinction Rebellion and the unions and the lines to blockade things.

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“We will pull out all the stops. This time we won’t settle for a moratorium either.

“We’re just going to keep on hammering this until we get the proper ban on fracking.”

Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan welcomed Ms Truss’s announcement and said the Government has made the “right call”.

He added: “We look forward to getting started.”

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