Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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Barry Gardiner
Main Page: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)Department Debates - View all Barry Gardiner's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(8 years, 8 months ago)
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Elizabeth Truss
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. We have given £1 billion of aid to the region, and 18 million food parcels.
Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)
In the infrastructure debate, the Government promised they would safeguard our groundwater and sites of special scientific interest from the dangers of fracking. These promises have now been abandoned. The Government now permit fracking in SSSIs, and four out of five of the old water protection zones are no longer frack-free under the new water protection areas. Was the Secretary of State consulted by her Cabinet colleagues about this U-turn on fracking in protected areas, and if so, why did she agree to downgrade these important protections?