Thursday 29 September 2022 11:14 AM Liz Truss faces awkward radio interview as she's told there's no support for ... trends now

Liz Truss endured an awkward radio interview this morning as she was challenged over her removal of the ban on fracking.

The Prime Minister insisted that 'local community support' would be needed before the extraction of oil or gas from shale rock can take place in parts of Britain.

But she stuggled to set out how consent would be sought among local communities.

Ms Truss was also forced to admit she had never visited a Lancashire site where fracking had previously been attempted, before it was abandoned over concerns about tremors.

The PM defended her bid to revive fracking in the UK as part of efforts to boost the country's domestic energy supply following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

She insisted that Britain should not be left vulnerable to Vladimir Putin 'exerting pressure' through Russia's gas supplies to Europe.

But she issued a slapdown of Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary, after he last week suggested opponents of fracking were 'luddites' and dismissed concerns about the extraction process as 'hysteria'.

'We will only press ahead with fracking in areas where there is local community support for that and the Business Secretary has been very clear about that,' Ms Truss told BBC Radio Lancashire.

'Fracking is carried out perfectly safely in various parts of the world and the Business Secretary will make sure that any fracking that takes place is safe.

'Because it's very important for me as Prime Minister that any fracking has local community consent.'

The PM insisted ministers 'simply don't

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