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Paloma Faith, Bobby Gillespie Join Vivienne Westwood Launch of MyFrackingQuestions.org

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Paloma Faith, Duffy, Jools Holland, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie join Dame Vivienne Westwood + others to launch Launch of MyFrackingQuestions.org

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Musicians Paloma Faith, Duffy, Jools Holland and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie have come together with campaigning celebrities including Dame Vivienne Westwood and her son, businessman Joe Corre, chef Mark Hix, double Olympic Gold Medallist rower Andrew Triggs Hodge, artist Sarah Lucas and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell to show support for the launch of MyFrackingQuestions.org by taking a selfie holding up their fracking question for Minister for Energy Matthew Hancock MP.
 
In the images released today to mark the website going live, singer Paloma Faith is pictured holding up the question: “How can you be sure that our health will not be put at risk by fracking?” The singer goes on to comment that she is “really concerned about the health risks to the population and the long-term repercussions (of fracking)”. Duffy is shown in her photo asking Mathew Hancock MP if he will attend a Talk Fracking debate to address the public’s concerns and says: “I would like to call for a National Moratorium. A ‘stop the clock’. No more intrusive fracking until we, as a country, can assess whether this is the most sustainable, economic and safest source of energy”.
 
Vivienne Westwood says: “MyFrackingQuestions.org is asking the key questions that the public has told us they want answered definitively by the current government. We are acting now to empower the next generation, preventing them from having to deal with the potentially devastating effects of fracking should it go ahead in this country – from watching the economy crash to house prices nose-diving by 25 percent. This debate belongs to the British people but without any solid and reliable information, they cannot take part in this most critical of conversations. Until these questions are answered and until there is open public debate, there can be no social license and no democratic mandate.”

In his photo Bobby Gillespie raises concerns about whether or not we can trust the government on fracking when there are clear conflicts of interest. He adds: “Why is Lord Brown allowed to advise David Cameron on energy policy when he is a major shareholder in the fracking company Cuadrilla? Isn’t this a conflict of interest? Or is corporate corruption at the heart of the British government just business as usual?” Meanwhile chef and restaurateur Mark Hix asks: ”How will you ensure fracking companies have responsibility for compensation in the event of environmental or economic damage?”

MyFrackingQuestions.org allows the public to log on and ask their fracking questions directly to the energy minister with the aim of getting the government to provide factual answers to their concerns. The website allows users to choose their three most important concerns and send these questions to Matthew Hancock MP by Twitter or email. People can also submit their own questions via the platform if they prefer. MyFrackingQuestions.org poses questions relating to health, energy security, water, climate change, conflict of interest, economic benefits and also asks Matthew Hancock MP to attend a public debate to address the concerns of the public and engage in an open and factually informed debate about fracking in the UK.

MyFrackingQuestions.org is being launched by Talk Fracking, a UK initiative to raise awareness of the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, ‘fracking’, and the government’s fast-moving plans to introduce it in the UK. Spearheaded by Dame Vivienne Westwood and her son, Joe Corre, Talk Fracking is calling for more independent debate into the potential dangers this industry holds for the UK at this critical moment, before the government’s plans go ahead, changing the UK forever.

Talk Fracking is supported by over 150 celebrities, scientists and respected organisations including Sir Paul McCartney, his daughter Stella, Yoko Ono, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Greta Scacchi, Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Guillem Balagué, Lily Cole, Thom Yorke, Russell Brand, Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto, Lord Rea, Stephen Frears, the RSPB, The Salmon & Trout Association, Jeanette Winterson OBE,  Dietmar Hamann, Graham Norton, Nick Grimshaw, Alan Carr, Bill Bailey, Matt Lucas, Vanessa Redgrave, Gavin Turk, Noel Fielding, Sir Antony Gormley OBE, Cornelia Parker OBE, Mariella Frostrupp, Fergus Henderson, James Bolam, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and Tracey Emin CBE RA.

Joe Corre says: “Talk Fracking has so far invited over 80 policy makers, industry figures and scientists to take part in a series of panel debates to discuss the merits of fracking in the UK. The former energy minister Michael Fallon’s email invitation was opened over 70 times. Despite this not one of them has had the courage to attend and answer the critical questions from the British public on the serious dangers this technology poses for the UK. I am astonished at the level of contempt this shows to the electorate. The ‘My Fracking Questions’ initiative offers another opportunity for the energy minister to set out his detailed answers to the questions we have gathered so far. This issue is not going to go away! It is building massive public support by the day as more people inform themselves of the risks and wake up to the fact it is happening on their doorstep. Fracking has the potential to fracture our economy, environment, health, communities and even political parties. The government should stop listening to the lobbyists, the spin-doctors and their industry friends. They need to listen to the people and realise that we are doing them a favour by facilitating the forum for them to do just that!”