Eco-propagandist Louise Gray hijacks The Telegraph

The Telegraph’s resident eco-propagandist environment correspondent, Louise Gray, abandons any pretence at impartiality in two recent pieces.

Reporting that Villages across the UK take up the fight against fracking, she follows the example of former BBC environmentalist the unlamented Richard Black, by quoting the eco-activists at length while seemingly bereft of contacts on the other side of the argument.

What she dubs the grassroots protests in the village of Balcombe against fracking have, she claims, “sparked a countrywide rebellion as villages up and down the country vow they will also blockade any attempts to drill”. Note by implication these are whole villages up and down the length of the country, rather than small bands of activists.

What she’s done in her piece is to provide a short directory of anti-fracking activist groups. Doubtless her employers, the pro-fracking Telegraph, are thrilled.

It’s not clear why it should have taken two reporters to write this short piece, unless Sally Wardle was deputed to approach Jacob Ress-Mogg to obtain a little balance.

Note he was the MP interviewed recently on Newsnight and seems to be the go-to voice of reason.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory MP, who faces the threat of fracking in his own constituency of North East Somerset and indeed near his own home, said there was no need for a “knee jerk Nimby response”.

Nor did he approve of “rent-a-mob” or “buses of hooligans” coming in to protest.

He insisted the Shires of Britain will react in an appropriate and dignified manner once all the information has been gathered.

“There has to be a balance between the advantages of cheap energy against the disadvantages of damage to the countryside.”

Even if villages and towns are against drilling plans, he trusted they would protest lawfully.

“I wouldn’t expect to see local people taking to the streets but I would expect to see them taking to the law courts if necessary.”

Tellingly, according to the Telegraph, Ress-Mogg faces the threat of fracking. Is this an unconscious slip which reveals the Telegraph writers’ mindset?

Today the Telegraph eco-propagandist writes of Tears in village as energy firm begins drilling in Balcombe. Kathryn McWhirter, a resident of Balcombe, was in tears, we are told. This is remarkable, as her blog posts have shown her to be one very sharp cookie.

We are horrified. The village is gobsmacked we feel bullied by the oil and gas industry and government at all levels from parish council right up to Cabinet Office. We are a tiny village in West Sussex. What say have we got?

Were the rest of the villagers standing beside her in the main street, wailing and rending their garments? Did eco-propagandist Louise Gray behave professionally by approaching the Parish Council for a comment on the weeping village’s claim? The chairman and vice-chairman have made themselves available to the press before, and doubtless would again.

Probably the Telegraph’s eco-propagandist just wanted a sympathetic quote from an eco-fellow-traveller.

Just to be clear, there are thousands of onshore wells in the UK and some 200 of them have been fracked.