Vanessa Vine
Vanessa Vine lives close to the fracking site in Balcome and fears the environmental and health threats posed. Photo: Peter Yankowski

Public opposition to fracking is heating up in Britain as the government pushes ahead with plans to pepper the country with drilling sites to exploit hard-to-get oil and gas. In an interview on Channel 4 TV News, MP Peter Lilley clashed January 26 with anti-fracking protester Vanessa Vine over the harms of fracking and Britain’s fossil fuel habit.

This is not the first time Vine has had a run-in with the Member of Parliament over his championing of fracking, a process which he claims is clean and safe. On TV and in newspaper columns, the two have been going head-to-head – Lilly claiming fracking is safe and of great benefit; Vine pointing the evidence from around the world pointing to the dangers, arguing Britain should be looking to develop cleaner energy sources.

Vine lives close to the fracking site in Balcome in southern England and has been pressured to take action over the “lies” she claims the British government are making over the benefits of this unconventional drilling method that is only just getting underway in the UK.

Fracking debate: ‘How dare you lie on national TV?’ – video