FRACKING – THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Alan Bullion - newly reselected as Parliamentary Spokesman for Sevenoaks Liberal Democrats - has spelled out the facts about 'fracking' for shale gas in Kent.

While Tory MPs - including the current MP for Sevenoaks - seem to think it will solve Britain's energy needs, the truth is very different.

Gas from fracking will not do for UK energy what it has done for the US.

The market here is differently structured, UK geology is more complex, and there are more people living on top of it - so the gains will be less, and the risks are greater.

Lib Dem MEPs, including Catherine Bearder, got the European Parliament to insist Environmental Impact Assessments must be done before exploration and extraction.

We will only support measured shale gas extraction:

- after local people have been properly consulted first,

- where it can be proved that the technology will be safe, and

- where prevention of possible water and land pollution can be guaranteed"

In the meantime, renewable energy sources must be developed to give our children a planet worth living on. We must also ensure that the North Downs are preserved.