YP Letters: Theresa May's attempt to bribe communities over fracking will fail

Fracking protesters outside County Hall in Northallerton.

THE Government’s announcement to bribe local residents to accept fracking is divisive and anti-community.

It would be illegal for a pharmaceutical company to pay patients to keep quiet about the adverse effects of a new drug. The Government’s plan to bribe residents is equally immoral.

More concerning is that the proposal confirms the assertion that the UK does not have an energy policy. This has serious implications for all of us. Every action the Government has taken recently on energy has been a knee-jerk reaction to a previous decision. Until a few weeks ago, the Government was putting pressure on EDF and the French and Chinese governments to confirm Hinkley Point. Yet, on the day EDF confirms the go-ahead, it stalls the project because it cannot make up its mind if it is the right thing to do!

The UK fracking fiasco has been no different. Until 2008, fracking was not considered part of the UK’s energy mix.

Why hasn’t the Government received offers for the 20 gas-fired generating stations it put out to tender in 2015?

From: June Smith, Helmsley.

IT is a sad day indeed when the Government and Theresa May have to resort to bribery when the people have said a resounding ‘no’ to fracking. Do they honestly think that a few thousand pounds given to a chosen few will compensate the majority who will have their lives changed forever to accommodate the greed of the oil and gas companies?

The Government has done everything possible to force fracking through and has met with huge opposition. If fracking is so safe, why then do people need to be compensated?

From: Malcolm Hara, Cherry Burton, Beverley.

SO the Government is proposing compensation/bribery for those people affected by fracking – 10 per cent of the revenue for 100 per cent of the problems.

From: Paul Andrews, Chair, Habton Parish Council.

THE one positive concession which has emerged is that the Government now accepts that fracking will have a negative impact on property values.

From: Steve Pearse, Great Barugh, Malton.

I’VE read with incredulity the latest attempt by this Government to sway public opinion. Is this now the way we should expect to be governed?