Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt has resigned as a parliamentary aide to Business Secretary Vince Cable after voting against the government on fracking.
Ms Munt defied the party whip to support a rebel amendment calling for a moratorium on the extraction technique.
The Wells MP initially said she intended to remain in her role despite breaching the principle of collective ministerial responsibility.
But a spokesman for Mr Cable later confirmed she had quit as his aide.
The spokesman said: “Tessa Munt has resigned from her position as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Vince Cable.
“Both the secretary of state for business [Mr Cable] and the deputy prime minister [Nick Clegg] thank Tessa for the work she has done in government but understand her strength of feeling on this issue and have, therefore, accepted her resignation.”
Photo by Keith Edkins
* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
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18 Comments
Well done, Tessa – when so many of our so-called environmentalist members buckled to George Osborne’s will.
Congratulations to all our MPs who did find the courage to oppose the dash for shale gas, and especially to the Green Liberal Democrats Honorary Vice President Tessa Munt.
Collective responsibility is an absurdity – why on earth should anyone, least of all a Liberal Democrat have to resign form the Government over a policy disagreement ? Do we do grown up politics or not ?
we try to Caractacus, but that is the protocol in our antiquated unreformed Commons procedures. Well done Tessa, now go out and build your majority in Wells.
What is the matter, fracking, bring it on I say as quickly as possible. It will transform the economy. I have to laugh at the protesters in their green fields especially in the south, they did not worry about the rest of us sitting next to or on coal fields that are still moving even when closed. Sorry we have to move on, not stand still, fracking and HS2 great.,
She isn’t even a minister but in an unpaid support role, it seems a bit unfair.
Impressive bit of descent by Munt, really glad she held her ground.
I suspect that some fracking in this country is inevitable, if we are to bridge the gap between current energy supplies and the technologies to achieve a system largely based on renewables.
We have a lot of experience of mining to extract fuel and minerals in this country, including the environmental damage done in the past. We can also draw on the experiences in the USA and elsewhere, where weak regulation and technical inexperience has caused problems.
That being said, I admire Tessa for standing by her principles and join Peter in hoping that she remains MP for Wells.
Our homes can now be put at risk because of the betrayal of the public by most of those in Parliament who no doubt will be again filling their back pockets. Let us hope that their homes are the first to be mined under. Oh sorry that is unlikely to happen, how many have homes in Lancashire for example?
Gosh, theakes, you must live a long way north. The sharpest opposition to fracking proposals right now is in Lancashire.
Ms Munt was interviewed on the PM programme this evening. I thought I heard her say that fracking produced enormous quantities of water which had been made toxic and she didn’t know how this water would be stored.
We are talking about fracking water and not nuclear waste are we not? I understand that the water contains some sand and some detergent added as a wetting agent. people have been known to drink the stuff to prove how safe it is. Does anyone know what problem Ms Munt is talking about?
KUDOS! You have my total respect for your views FOLLOWED UP by your actions. (A sad lack in politics). I’m not Lib.Dem., but praise you for what you’ve done.
Well done Tessa Munt and The Rebel Alliance of MPs who voted against the Blatcherites on the Front Benches.
I do not think PPS’s should be forced to vote for the Government. It’s a lowly paid job with little status beyond the Commons. People should be appointed on merit and talent otherwise their views aren’t taken seriously when they differ.
On this occasion, the government which pummelled through a consultation on this issue ignored a parliamentary committee which took into account the views the government ignored. While Cable is bound by collective responsibility, this should never have extended to Munt.
A genuine approach would have been to allow a free vote on this issue rather than enforce a whip and allow a debate. Those who have followed the infrastructure should be pretty disgusted with the way so many fracking amendments were put in at such a late stage in the passage of the bill (eg bypassing the Lords)
We don’t need fracked gas. Qatar has plenty, and the infrastructure to get it here as LNG.
Actually Peter fracking often does bring radio-active material to the surface. The concentrations are small, but the amount is huge. .
The view from Torbay’s Adrian Sanders MP —
After a long days haggling, negotiating, debating and voting we have reformed the Infrastructure Bill so that no fracking can take place:
• unless an environmental impact assessment has been carried out;
• unless independent inspections are carried out of the integrity of wells
used;
• unless monitoring has been undertaken on the site over the previous 12
month period;
• unless site-by-site measurement, monitoring and public disclosure of
existing and future fugitive emissions is carried out;
• in land which is located within the boundary of a groundwater source
protection zone;
• within or under protected areas;
• in deep-level land at depths of less than 1,000 metres;
• unless planning authorities have considered the cumulative impact of
hydraulic fracturing activities in the local area;
• unless a provision is made for community benefit schemes to be provided
by companies engaged in the extraction of gas and oil rock;
• unless residents in the affected area are notified on an individual basis;
• unless substances used are subject to approval by the Environment
Agency
• unless land is left in a condition required by the planning authority, and
• unless water companies are consulted by the planning authority.
The purpose of these conditions is to ensure that shale gas exploration and extraction can only proceed with appropriate regulation and comprehensive monitoring and to ensure that any activity is consistent with climate change obligations and local environmental considerations.
A complete ban until we can store carbon safely and efficiently would have been my preference but not enough MPs were likely to support such a move as proved when only 35 MPs voted to delay any extraction for period of time.
What we have achieved though is fairly amazing by signing amendments and standing firm thus forcing the Government to concede an opposition new clause to the bill with the above conditions laid down.
There’s hopefully some more amendments to be made in the House of Lords adding further protections.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25902272
Energy company Cuadrilla has withdrawn applications for permits to frack in Lancashire after issues with radioactive waste.
Fracking produces large volumes of water contaminated with low level naturally-occurring radiation.
The Environment Agency (EA) said it would not grant a radioactive substances permit until it was sure the water will be disposed of safely
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/04/fracking-us-toxic-waste-water-washington
It can take 2m to 9m gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals to frack a single well. The report said the drilling industry had used 250bn gallons of fresh water since 2005. Much of that returns to the surface, however, along with naturally occurring radium and bromides, and concerns are growing about those effects on the environment.
No-one yet knows exactly what these chemicals used as additives are, but they are many and varied – absolutely not just “detergent”
http://energyblog.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/04/fracking-water-its-just-so-hard-to-clean/
As a general rule, you would not want to take a shower much less drink flowback or formation water, nor would you want to just pour the stuff into a river or stream (although that has been known to happen, as described here and here). Fracking wastewater can contain massive amounts of brine (salts), toxic metals, and radioactivity.