Lord Howell, former Tory Energy Secretary and father-in-law of the Chancellor, George Osborne, said that there were, “justified worries” about, “fracking” a method of extracting shale oil and gas and that this should not be inflicted on the “beautiful” South. But he offered a way forward stating, “there are large uninhabited and desolate areas, certainly up in the North East, where there’s plenty of room for fracking well away from anyone’s residence… without any kind of threat to the rural environment.” Recognising his close affinity with his Son-in-law it might be he is foretelling the future of the North East.
