UK government fracking U-turn ‘sets a good tone’, say climate activists

Reversal comes as MPs warn national security is being jeopardised by climate-fuelled extreme weather

The ban on shale gas fracking will be reinstated, the prime minister told MPs on Wednesday, in a U-turn on a policy launched by Liz Truss’s short-lived government.

Rishi Sunak said during Prime Minister’s Questions that he stands by the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto, which banned fracking unless the science shows “categorically” that it can be done safely.

Green groups, conservationists and climate activists described the return of the ban as an “incredibly positive” result on the prime minister’s first full day in office.