Sunak to restore UK ban on fracing, rowing back Truss’s plan
(Bloomberg) — UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will restore a ban on shale gas fracing, rowing back a controversial short-lived plan by his predecessor Liz Truss on his first full day in the top job.
Sunak will return to former premier Boris Johnson’s pledge to install a moratorium on the extraction process, his press secretary said Wednesday. The prime minister told the House of Commons that he stands by his Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto promise.
Truss moved to lift the ban when she entered office last month, but it proved to be controversial. Many Tories are opposed to fracing due to local concerns about the tremors that drilling can cause, but Truss was determined to develop the industry to tackle rising energy costs.
It culminated in a parliamentary vote last week, which though Truss won, descended into chaos amid allegations that members of parliament were manhandled in the voting lobbies. That triggered the former leader’s decision to resign the next day.
