Barbara Keeley

Barbara Keeley has been the UK Labour Party member of Parliament (MP) for Worsley and subsequently Worsley and Eccles South since 2005.

In February 2014 the MP described IGas Energy's potential fracking site at Barton Moss in Salford, Greater Manchester as 'manifestly unsuitable', with drilling there causing 'absolutely huge inconvenience' to residents and businesses.

Keeley also described the process of 'fracking' - exploring below the surface for possible shale gas reserves - as "controversial and untested".

Keeley, in an interview with Govtoday, insisted the scheme should "never have been brought into that part" of the region, adding: "If you think that there are meant to trillions of cubic metres of shale gas said to be in the north west, why start in an urban area with very poor access?"

There are a "whole variety of reasons" why the location is "manifestly unsuitable", she says, including the narrow road incompatible with heavy goods vehicles, the proximity of farms and "precious" green belt land, the airport and motorway on either side, and the nearby secure care unit for children. "More than anything my constituents are living day in, day out with absolutely huge inconvenience," says Keeley – with falling house prices, rising insurance costs and potential health and environmental risks among the most pressing concerns.

External resources

• Daniel Mason, ‘It just shouldn’t be there’: MP condemns fracking site, govtoday.co.uk, 5 February 2014

Affiliations

• Labour Friends of Israel
• House of Commons Health Select Committee