Britain should press ahead with fracking in bid to cut carbon emissions, says George Osborne

Britain should press ahead with fracking for shale gas in the drive to cut Britain's carbon emissions, George Osborne has said.

The Chancellor put himself at odds with some in his party by stressing his belief that climate change was linked to human activity.

But he argued that moves to mitigate its impact should be done “in the cheapest possible way”.

Speaking in Hong Kong, he said: “Let's see more development of fracking in the UK and the US, as that will help reduce carbon emissions.”

He also challenged environmentalists to drop their opposition to the construction of new nuclear power stations.

“When it comes to the technology we use, let's get the right mix,” Mr Osborne said.

“There are people in the green movement who oppose the use of civil nuclear power for ideological reasons, if you like, when it is by definition a green source of energy generation.

“We are going ahead with a new generation of civil nuclear power stations.”