Anti-fracking demo, Manchester, 21.9.14, photo by Dylan Murphy   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Demo calls on Labour to oppose Fracking

Dylan and Jo Murphy, Huddersfield Socialist Party

Last Sunday several thousand people marched through Manchester to protest at the Labour Party’s support for fracking. The demonstration was part of an international day of action over climate change.

The police had a relatively low profile which is in sharp contrast with the aggressive approach that Greater Manchester police have taken towards anti-fracking protests up at Barton Moss.

The demonstration finished with a rally just across the road from the conference centre where Labour Party conference was to take place. Speakers at the rally called on Miliband and the Labour Party to call for a ban on fracking. There is an overwhelming body of evidence coming out of the United States to show that fracking poisons water supplies and the air for communities close to the drilling.

Over the next year the big oil and gas companies will be seeking to get applications for drilling licences all over the country. The labour movement must put resources and time into combating this growing threat from the fossil fuel industry.