Scottish parliament bans fracking

The motion was passed by a slim majority of 32 to 29, after gaining support from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

The Conservative Party voted against the ban, while the Scottish National Party abstained from the vote.

Fracking provides just another fossil fuel and we do not need it

Claudia Beamish, Scottish Labour’s environment spokesman

According to the final, amended motion: “fracking and other forms of unconventional gas extraction are incompatible with Scotland’s low-carbon ambitions”.

Claudia Beamish, Scottish Labour’s environment spokesman, said: “The last thing that Scotland needs as we shift towards a low-carbon economy is what some have called a transition fuel. Fracking provides just another fossil fuel and we do not need it.”

However, UKOOG, the representative body for the UK’s onshore oil and gas industry, said it was disappointed in the outcome of the vote.

UKOOG chief executive Ken Cronin said: “We are confident as an industry based on over 50 years of experience both onshore and offshore that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) can be done safely and environmentally sensitively within the regulatory environment in Scotland.”

The ban comes a little over a week after North Yorkshire County Council approved Third Energy’s request to drill for shale gas near the village of Kirby Misperton.

It was the first time a fracking application had been approved in the UK since 2011.