Star date: 27th September 2014

BAD FRACKING NEWS FOR THE LABOUR PARTY AS PROTESTERS TELL FRACKERS `WE DON'T WANT YOU IN SALFORD'

Yesterday's Fracking North Conference at The Lowry was picketed by anti-fracking campaigners telling the frackers to `Frack off out of Salford'. The conference, mainly attended by those with an interest in the shale gas industry, heard how Labour Party supporters, particularly women, are against fracking, despite the views of its front bench.

Full story here...

From 8am yesterday morning, Salford residents and anti-fracking groups converged on The Lowry where a Fracking North Conference was taking place with delegates mainly from the fracking industry paying up to £474 for tickets .

"We're here because we want to tell people who are in this conference that we don't want their industry in the north and lots of people passing have been very supportive  of our protest" said organiser Rachel Cooper who is forming FFS (Frack Free Salford) in readiness of the return of fracking company IGas to Barton Moss this winter.

"Our message to the frackers is `Go away!'" she added "`We don't want you here in Salford, we don't want you anywhere at all', there's plenty of alternatives."

Meanwhile, Martin Porter from Frack Free Greater Manchester got into the Conference and told the Salford Star that during the morning sessions, delegates wouldn't have liked what they heard from the speakers.

"There's a range of mainly academic speakers talking to the fracking industry and their contractors who were certainly getting a bit fidgety during the last talk about the protest movement in America and how it's emerging in Britain so much faster" he said "Primarily it's an industry conference but what they are hearing is not good for the industry.

"The public does seem broadly in favour of fracking but only because they believe it will bring economic benefits which even the fracking industry denies" he explained "It's not going to bring the gas prices down, we've heard that from the IGas operating officer. It has been a disaster in America and no-one's argued against that. And it's not going to do much for climate change, even IGas don't say that.

"Studies from America show that while people go into fracking before it happens broadly positive, two years down the line they're 50-50, seven years down the line they hate it" he added "And that is across the board."

The session on opinion polls showed that people see shale gas as significantly worse than natural gas, and that women are far less likely to see advantages to fracking than men, while they are also more worried about the industry's consequences. In particular, Martin heard that the polls showed that the Labour Party has a huge problem supporting fracking, when its own voters are against it.

"Overall in the Labour Party their voters do not like fracking, despite what their front bench thinks, and the gap between the support for fracking amongst male Labour voters and female voters is colossal – a 22% difference, with their women opposing it."

Placards displayed at the protest outside The Lowry were aimed primarily at Labour Party Mayor, Ian Stewart, Salford Council, Peel Holdings and IGas. And the message from Salford was clear...that frackers are not welcome in Salford...