Tory whips say Labour fracking motion is vote of confidence in Truss government
Conservative whips have told their own MPs that a Labour vote opposing fracking is an effective confidence motion in the Liz Truss government and that they must follow the party line.
Truss’ chief whip Wendy Morton told Tory backbenchers, in an email leaked to Huffpost, that “this is not a motion on fracking … this is a motion on the government” and that the vote was a “hard three line whip”.
The Prime Minister’s decision to lift the moratorium on fracking has been met by stiff resistance by a group of Tory MPs, with some reportedly considering voting with Labour today.
It has been reported by multiple media outlets that any Tory MP who votes for Labour’s fracking motion could lose the party whip and be forced to sit as an independent.
Truss cancelled a planned trip today at the last minute, with speculation rife that it was binned because there is a serious chance of the Tories losing today’s vote.
Conservative MP Richard Graham, an opponent of fracking, said: “Today is an opportunity for the government to confirm either that our position on fracking is either as per the 2019 manifesto moratorium or that any proposal must have local support.”
He said local support would have to mean “a positive vote by a full second tier [or] unitary council, with planning permission decided locally”.
The Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto promised that the ban on shale gas extraction would not be lifted “unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely”.
A British Geological Survey review of fracking was inconclusive around the safety impacts of the controversial practice.
Thangam Debbonaire, Labour shadow leader of the House of Commons, said: “The consequence of making this a confidence vote is that if the government loses the motion on fracking, the Prime Minister will resign and the government will fall.
“The Tories must urgently confirm this is the case.”