A few minutes into her speech at the Birmingham convention center, two environmental activists rose from their seats, holding up a large banner that read: ‘Who voted for this?’

The two women, who were carrying delegate credentials, as seen on the live local television broadcast, also shouted against ‘fracking,’ the technique of injecting water and other substances underground to extract shale gas and oil, before being removed from the site by security guards.

In a statement issued shortly afterwards by Greenpeace UK PR director Rebecca Newsom, she accused Truss of tearing up the Conservative Party’s election manifesto, which in 2019 pledged to respect the moratorium on the controversial extraction method.

The people voted for strong climate action, a moratorium on fracking, world-class environmental protection, and for tackling poverty and inequality, but what they are getting is a barrage of laws on wildlife and nature protection, plus the possibility of a cut in benefits, she added.

Hydraulic fracturing was banned in the UK years ago because of its possible link to earthquakes, but the new Minister for Business and Energy, Jacob Rees-Mogg, announced on September 22 that the moratorium would be lifted to increase domestic sources of energy and reduce dependence on hydrocarbon imports.

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