'I certainly wouldn't want explosions happening under my house' says Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins as controversial fracking vote divides Derbyshire

Following a chaotic vote as yesterday members of parliament rejected Labour’s motion to ban fracking. While Chesterfield’s Labour MP Toby Perkins voted in favour of the motion, Tory Lee Rowley, MP for North East Derbyshire, Conservative MP for Bolsover Mark Fletcher, were against the ban.

Mr Perkins said: “The Conservative Party were committed in their manifesto in 2019 to not do fracking and they have been elected on that basis. Changing that policy and being very strict with their MPs, including North Derbyshire MPs, about voting, is very disappointing.

"There's a former coal mining area in North Derbyshire and the county is attractive to the fracking industry. There's been attempts to set up exploratory fracking in Marsh Lane area before and it was a very significant issue. People have been elected here partly because of their stance on fracking as it is of considerable interest to the constituents.

“Exploratory fracking have caused minor earthquakes, there have been structural damage caused. I certainly wouldn't want explosions happening under my house. And I think that's exactly the same for many people in North Derbyshire.”

Mr Rowley has published a message his Facebook page to explain his decision to vote against the fracking ban.

He said in the post: “Before I do, I have to categorically restate that my view on fracking remains unchanged: I will always oppose it if it comes forward in North East Derbyshire and that, whilst others want to have another look at it again, I just don’t think it is the answer to the challenges which our country faces.

“Last night, I voted against a game-playing, partisan motion in Parliament – deliberately structured to create a social media furore. And so it has proven. That vote is currently being mischaracterized across social media as voting “for fracking”. That is absolutely not true – either in fact or in spirit.”

He added: “On fracking, I just don’t think a ban is the way to go. Other may take a different view but I think communities can make their own decisions about what to do on this subject. I don’t believe in telling Nuneaton, Newcastle or Norwich how to run their affairs and, by extension, I don’t want Nuneaton, Newcastle or Norwich to tell us what to do. Instead, I want us, in North East Derbyshire, to decide as much as possible about what happens in our area.”

Mr Perkins said: “It's clear that fracking will make no difference to people's energy bills now. The amount of energy that we could generate, it would be a very, very small amount. And the geology of Britain means that it's probably not commercially viable. And it's certainly not going to make a difference to the price that people pay for their energy.

“What we need is for the government to dedicate themselves to generating more renewable sources like wind, light, solar, light, tidal, all of which Britain is well placed to take advantage of because of our geography. And stop wasting time with what is a very divisive and damaging process.”

He added: “There has been some talk about not voting for it, because it was a labour motion. But the truth is that when we talk about opposition motion, it's just a motion. They ignored the outcome the motion would bring. Ultimately, what people in North Derbyshire have got is Conservative MPs, who voted to support fracking, despite publicly being against it, and in contravention of what was in the Conservative Party manifesto.”

The Derbyshire Times has contacted Lee Rowley and Mark Fletcher for a response.