The Government has granted licenses to energy companies to launch exploratory drilling throughout the North and the rest of the UK, including in an area that covers Leeds. At the end of the last Parliament (and flying in the face of concerns from independent scientific institutions, cross-party Parliamentary committees and environmental groups) the government moved to water down environmental protections that would have ensured public and environmental health came first in any dash for shale gas. We believe that there should be a complete halt on Fracking and exploratory drilling & preparation work because the very real environmental and public health concerns surrounding the Fracking industry have not been addressed.