UK Daily Mail: Labour puts the brake on fracking: Hope of new gas boom dealt a blow after MPs vote through raft of tough regulations on shale drilling

Hopes for a new gas boom in Britain were dealt a blow yesterday as MPs voted through a raft of tough regulations on fracking.

Labour forced ministers to agree 12 new restrictions on shale drilling last night, which critics say will further hold up the industry for months or even years.

David Cameron and George Osborne have called for the UK to go ‘all out for fracking’ as soon as possible, as it could bring down energy bills and create thousands of jobs.

But Labour frontbenchers have hardened their opposition to the idea, for fear of losing voters to the Greens.

Shadow ministers Caroline Flint and Angela Eagle had vowed to call a halt to extraction of shale gas altogether yesterday unless the government met a series of new standards.

Ministers feared that opposition from Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs, as well as a number of Conservatives who believe it will be unpopular in their constituencies, could derail the entire operation.

The Government last night agreed to a complete ban on fracking in national parks, near water sources and in areas of outstanding natural beauty. MORE