Thank you to all those who have contacted me about fracking.

I agree with you on this important issue. Fracking is dangerous and polluting, it will not provide energy security or do anything to reduce energy bills, and it is deeply unpopular. That is why I supported a motion in the House of Commons on 19 October that called for a ban on fracking and would have given Parliament the opportunity to pass a Bill to do this. Unfortunately, the motion was defeated.

Nevertheless, as you will know, the Government now says that a moratorium on fracking introduced in 2019, and which it announced an end to in September, will in fact remain in place. While the reinstatement of this temporary moratorium is welcome, I am concerned that the Government’s frequent u-turns show that it cannot be trusted on this issue. Indeed, only a week before the Prime Minister confirmed the reinstatement of the moratorium, he, along with other Government MPs, voted against the motion giving Parliament the chance to put a permanent end to fracking in the UK. I can therefore assure you that I will continue to support efforts to ensure that fracking is banned for good.

More widely, I agree that to truly deliver energy security and lower bills, we need to accelerate action on renewables. That is why I support plans to deliver a 100% clean power system by 2030, including by quadrupling our offshore wind capacity, more than doubling onshore wind and more than tripling solar by 2030, and with a publicly owned energy company to invest in the technologies and jobs of the future here in the UK.

I also agree that we need to prioritise and fund energy efficiency, which is why I support proposals for a national effort to bring all homes up to energy performance certificate band C within a decade. This would save families large amounts each year on their energy bills and reduce national gas imports by up to 15%.

Thank you once again for contacting me. I can assure you that I will continue to support efforts to press the Government on this issue, as well as calls to step up action on energy efficiency and cheap, homegrown renewables.