Many plaudits this morning for ministers such as Michael Fallon who have catalysed the government’s push ahead with fracking. The only question, though, is whether enthusiasm in Whitehall will translate into enthusiasm in local communities. Ministers are pointing to a change in the incentives for communities which means they can now keep 100 per cent of business rates from extraction sites. But it certainly hasn’t impressed Ben Wallace, the Tory MP for Wyre and Preston North, who is a vocal spokesman for the group of MPs whose constituencies sit on the Bowland Shale. Wallace tells me:
‘What they are offering us today – an extra £850,000 of business rates is pathetic, insulting. The Treasury should take a little less and we could have a little bit more. These are crumbs from the Treasury table.’
Now, naturally, an MP is going to make as much noise as possible about getting a good deal for their constituents.
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