Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he would be “delighted” to have his back garden fractured as he risked deepening divisions within the Tory party by ridiculing those who oppose the controversial practice as “socialists”.
The business secretary was optimistic about restarting fracking in England after a nearly three-year moratorium, saying the current limit of 0.5 magnitude to prevent mini-earthquakes from being triggered was “ridiculously low”.
Companies wanting to drill a new fracking well could “go door to door, like politicians do in elections and ask people if they would consent to it,” Rees-Mogg suggested.
“Then they have to go to an identifiable community and if they get 50% plus one in favour, they should be able to go ahead,” he told the Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics fringe event at the Tory conference in Birmingham.
So far, the government has said only that shale gas companies will need “community consent” to start drilling, but declined to provide further details.
Liz Truss faced an embarrassing grilling by BBC Lancashire as part of last week’s round of local radio interviews. When pressed to explain how communities would be consulted, the Prime Minister was unable to do so and was told “you don’t seem to know”.
Rees-Mogg said the current seismic limit for fracking was too low and would soon announce “a more realistic figure”.
Asked if he would allow shale gas to be dug in his back garden, the MP for North Somerset, whose constituency seat is Grade II listed Gournay Court, enthused: “Yes, of course I would would, I’d like to. If we do what I’m proposing about shale gas, you’ll be doing a public service by having it in your back garden. But you’ll also be paid for it. So both the country gains, how you win
“Oh, and even better, the environment wins because it’s less carbon emissions. Bingo. So who doesn’t like it? Socialists and Caroline Lucas. Well, that makes my heart bleed.”
Rees-Mogg added that areas producing shale gas should receive royalties.
The business secretary also announced that a prototype fusion nuclear power station, possibly the world’s first, would be built in Nottinghamshire by 2040, replacing a coal-fired power station in the area.
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Many Tory MPs have voiced their opposition to fracking, some publicly since the announcement of the return of fracking and others before they became ministers, meaning they are prevented from speaking out.
Rees-Mogg also rejected former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries’ suggestion that for Truss to reverse many of the previous government’s policies, he might have to call a general election.
“There is no constitutional requirement for a new election,” he said, noting that the deadline was January 2025, adding with a smile: “There’s nothing like a good winter election.”