Helen Morgan votes against fracking and pledges to protect Shropshire countryside

North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan voted in favour of banning fracking as she reiterated her pledge to campaign against any drilling in the constituency.

However the Conservative Government, which wants fracking to take place across the country, won the vote after chaotic scenes in Parliament.

The vote in the House of Commons took place on the same day that Shropshire Council’s Conservative leader refused to rule out approving fracking applications during a meeting of the council Cabinet.

One fracking licence is currently in place in North Shropshire covering land around Adderley, near Market Drayton, as well as neighbouring Cheshire. North Shropshire has previously been the site of large protests against fracking after drilling was proposed for coal bed methane at Dudleston Heath near Ellesmere.

Helen Morgan said: “The soap opera surrounding this Conservative Government should not distract people from the dangerous policies they are trying to implement.

“Oil and gas barons already making huge profits out of the energy crisis are now queuing up for a slice of England’s countryside.

“Even the Government has admitted that fracking will not bring down energy prices. Instead, there needs to be more investment in renewable energy which is the cleanest and cheapest way to bring down bills - and bring down carbon emissions.

“People across North Shropshire have made it clear to me they do not want giant drills in their villages. That’s why I voted against fracking and will continue to campaign to protect Shropshire’s beautiful countryside.”

Last month the British Geological Society refused to endorse fracking as safe in their report for the government. The House of Commons Environment Committee has previously warned that fracking poses a “risk to groundwater... and a risk of polluting surface water”. They warned too that the need for “considerable quantities of water” for fracking “could pose localised risks to water supplies”. 

Research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has also revealed that fracking caused 192 earthquakes in 182 days at the one active site in the UK, equivalent to more than one a day.