The British government has acknowledged the potential harms of fracking for unconventional gas – yet claimed that regulation in Britain is more stringent than in other countries and that it is therefore possible to prevent negative impacts. In this article I will show that over a century of health and safety regulation in the UK gives no ground for confidence. On the contrary there has repeatedly been shameful disregard for public health and environment. Industrial and commercial interests have repeatedly overridden the right of the public to be protected and there is already evidence that we are seeing the same tragedy replayed – potentially on a more destructive scale than ever before. The truth is that in some cases British regulation is inferior to other countries – that is why the British government are fighting the European Commission to prevent European regulation of shale gas extraction. In the light […]