British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has decided to reinstate the ban on fracking after it was lifted by his predecessor Liz Truss. During the Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sunak made it clear that his government will take a hard stance on the topic and it was later confirmed by a spokesperson.
During his first PMQ as Prime Minister, Sunak said that he will be sticking to the promise made in the 2019 manifesto and will reverse the controversial decision taken by Truss. Fracking has been a divisive topic in the Conservative Party with several MPs speaking out against the decision to lift the ban.
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Sunak announced the decision in response to a question from Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.
“I have already said I stand by the manifesto on that. But what I would say is that I’m proud that this government has passed the landmark Environment Act, putting more protections for the natural environment than we have ever had with a clear plan to deliver,” he told the MPs.
“And I can give the honourable lady my commitment that we will deliver on all those ambitions. We will deliver on what we said at Cop [Cop26] because we care deeply about passing our children an environment in a better state than we found it ourselves,” Sunak added according to Sky News.
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This was the second big policy from the Truss era which was reversed by Sunak after finance minister Jeremy Hunt announced a complete U-turn from the economic measures from the previous tenure.
Meanwhile, Sunak faced criticism from the opposition regarding the appointment of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary after she was dismissed for “breaking ministerial code”. However, the newly elected prime minister defended his decision and called the security breach “a mistake” by Braverman.
