Tory MPs pressure Johnson to boost UK gas supplies and lift fracking ban

Tory MPs have urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to increase Britain’s gas production and reconsider climate policy as the Ukraine crisis destabilizes energy markets.

MEPs are concerned about rising energy prices and the West’s dependence on Russian gas amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Nearly 40 MPs have called for an end to Britain’s ban on fracking, a controversial shale gas exploration method.

But government sources told the BBC there were no plans to resume fracking.

The government halted fracking in 2019 after scientists raised concerns about earthquakes and “unacceptable” risks to local communities.

The UK’s only two shale gas wells, both in Lancashire, are set to be abandoned after the industry regulator ordered their sealing.

In a letter to Mr Johnson on Saturday, MPs implored him to “take a break and review this decision” to reassess energy security at “a time of such geopolitical turmoil”.

However, the BBC understands the government’s position has not changed and the fracking ban will remain in place until there is convincing scientific evidence that it can manage and predict earthquakes associated with the process.

In a recent Twitter threadEconomy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said that fracking will not lower energy prices in the short term.

To improve energy security, Mr Kwarteng said the government will support gas production in the North Sea as it transitions to renewables such as wind power.

Those assurances have not allayed the concerns of some Tory MPs. In recent months, as global gas prices have hit record highs, they have been pressuring the government to relax its climate policies.

These pressures have increased since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, sending up global energy prices and exposing the EU’s dependence on Russian gas supplies.

Russia provides about 5% of the UK’s gas supply, compared to about 40% of the EU.

But former Foreign Secretary and Tory MP Sir Alan Duncan told the BBC there was a risk of “banning our own supplies” by sanctioning Russian energy companies.

“Now, of course, we want to disadvantage Russia as an indispensable instrument of war,” he said. “But we don’t want to put ourselves at a disadvantage.”

Meanwhile, some MPs from a conservative group known as the Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG) are pushing for a reconsideration of Britain’s net zero policy.

The policy, enshrined in law under former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019, committed the UK to a legally binding target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Led by Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, the NZSG has warned of political consequences for Mr Johnson at the next election should he stick with politics.

The fracking letter to the Prime Minister was organized by Mr Mackinlay and former Brexit Secretary Steve Baker.

The letter came as Nigel Farage, the former leader of the Ukip and Brexit Party, announced the launch of a campaign to push for a Brexit-style referendum on Britain’s net-zero target.

In an article for the Mail On Sunday newspaper, Mr Farage said the “political class in Westminster made a decision for the rest of us without any public debate taking place”.

He questioned the cost of net zero and said his political movement Britain Means Business would hold rallies under the slogan “Vote power, not poverty”.

When asked about the campaign, a government source said the vast majority of MPs had been elected based on the election declaration to reach net zero by 2050.

While no Tory MP has publicly supported a net-zero referendum, some have expressed skepticism about the policy.

On Sunday, former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said policymakers needed to be “open and honest with the British public about how much this is all going to cost them and how much change in our everyday lives might be required”.

Several studies, including one by the government’s independent adviser, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), have demonstrated the economic benefits of net zero.

However, a report by a committee of MPs released last week says the government “has no reliable estimate of what the process of implementing the net zero policy is actually likely to cost”.