Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe today accused an 'ignorant minority' of anti-fracking activists of scuppering an energy revolution in the UK as his business Ineos offered to drill a shale gas test site to demonstrate that it can be done safely.
The billionaire founder of the chemicals group Ineos said politicians had 'totally ignored' the science around shale gas extraction and had instead been swayed by public perceptions of the 'so-called dangers' of fracking.
The UK banned the practice in 2019 over fears that it caused earthquakes - but Sir Jim said it is 'ridiculous' to have 'so much gas under our feet' in the 'midst of an energy crisis with ever increasing prices driving people into fuel poverty whilst giving huge sums of money to oppressive regimes'.
And taking aim at celebrity opponents including Dame Vivienne Westwood, who joined protests against fracking in Lancashire in 2018, he added: 'Apparently the influential voice of a fashion designer carries more weight than any number of scientific experts.'
Ineos had spent £250million on British fracking projects before the ban, funds which the tycoon said had been 'destroyed with the flick of a political switch'.
The company has licences across the north of England including in Cheshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire and has offered to drill a shale gas test site in the UK to demonstrate that fracking can be done safely, as the country wrestles with high solar energy company philippines prices.
Sir Jim said: 'We are willing to develop a fully functioning shale test site to prove that this technology can be operated safely by a competent operator'.
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