FRACKING PROTESTS

That this House notes the conviction and imprisonment of three anti-fracking protesters for causing a public nuisance whilst taking non-violent direct action to try to prevent the extraction of shale gas by Cuadrilla at Preston New Road, Lancashire; further notes that shale gas is a fossil fuel and that the Government's decision to launch a new fossil fuel industry by granting planning permission to Cuadrilla and others is undermining both local democracy and safe climate targets, which require at least 80 per cent of known fossil fuel reserves to be kept in the ground; applauds the principled peaceful actions of Simon Roscoe Blevins, Richard Roberts and Richard Loizou, the latest in a long proud history of individuals sent to prison for bravely defending our environment; considers the sentences received to be disproportionately harsh and the ruling part of a worrying trend of criminalising legitimate protest; welcomes academies from across the UK in calling for a judicial review of the three men's sentences; and urges the Government to ban fracking.