The Telegraph: George Osborne - Get Fracking or Condemn Britain to Higher Energy Bills
Britain must "get on with" fracking or else "condemn our country to higher energy bills" and fewer jobs, George Osborne has said.
The Chancellor urged the country not to "turn its back" on shale gas exploration - a week ahead of a crucial vote by councillors in Lancashire on whether to allow fracking to take place for the first time since 2011.
Mr Osborne, who has been an enthusiastic backer of fracking in the UK, said: "We will have the proper environmental standards around the exploration of shale gas, but I think for this country to turn its back on one of these great natural resources, which other countries are using, would be to basically condemn our country to higher energy bills and not as many jobs."
Standing in for David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions for the first time, he said: "Frankly, I do not want to be part of a generation that says, 'All the economic activity was happening somewhere else in the world, and was not happening in our country, and was not happening on our continent.'
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