Ed Miliband has vowed to “ban fracking” for good, as he drew yet another dividing line with Reform during his speech at the Labour Party conference.
The energy secretary promised to “send this bunch of frackers packing”, after Richard Tice and Nigel Farage of Reform UK both backed the method for retrieving underground shale gas as a way to boost the economy.
Hydraulic fracking has been suspended since a pause – a moratorium – was introduced in 2019, following concerns over minor earthquakes and public anger.
Its unpopularity with the British public has not budged since then, with twice as many people still opposing it as supporting it, according to YouGov polling.
Liz Truss did temporarily lift the moratorium during her time as prime minister in 2022, but it was quickly reinstated by her successor, Rishi Sunak.
Mr Miliband said in his speech: “Fracking will not take a penny off bills. It will not create long-term sustainable jobs.
“It will trash our climate commitments. And it is dangerous and deeply harmful to our natural environment.”
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He added: “Let’s ban fracking and vow to send this bunch of frackers packing too.”
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The move was welcomed by climate campaigners.
Asad Rehmen, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said: “By providing a clear vision for our energy future based on helping people, not on ignoring the science, the energy secretary has sent an important message that the government is listening to communities.”
But they urged the government to close a loophole which, in theory, allows fracking of small volumes of gas via a method called “proppant squeeze”.
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Greenpeace said ministers were “right to focus on renewable energy as our best chance to create jobs, boost our energy independence and protect households from the turbulence of gas markets”.
Labour has been building out the UK’s renewable and nuclear energy at speed, pledging to generate 95% of Britain’s electricity from green sources by 2030.
But it has not yet confirmed the future of some oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
It pledged to end licences for new fields, but allowed some wriggle room for those already in the process, such as the Rosebank oilfield, whose application was resubmitted last month.
Supporters say this could help some sustain some jobs in oil and gas as the sector rapidly declines overall.
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In his speech, Mr Miliband also promised to double the number of clean energy jobs, from 430,000 to 830,000 by 2030.
Many of these will be naturally destined for the east coast: former industrial heartlands where Reform’s support is also currently strongest. The details will be set out in a new Clean Energy Jobs Plan due in the next few weeks.
His department expects the clean energy boom will require 25,000 more engineers and researchers, 26,000 more welders and electricians, and 36,000 more construction workers.
“However, the speech was policy-light, meaning many questions remain about Labour’s plans over the next year,” said Niamh O Regan, senior researcher at the Social Market Foundation.
“To really ensure Britain becomes a ‘clean energy superpower’, measures like a decision on decoupling electricity from gas, a long-term plan for heat decarbonisation and answers to the future for oil and gas workers as their industries are phased out are needed.”
