Liz Truss' unpopular decision to approve the lifting of England’s fracking ban has caused anger from Tory MPs, compounded by the threat from opposition parties that they will use this issue to drum up support in key electoral battlegrounds.

Rees-Mogg claimed that the impact of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine means that securing domestic energy supplies is now vital.

The moratorium on fracking had been in place since 2019 following a series of earth tremors. Conservatives representing seats in northern England hit out at the move to end the ban, which unequivocally breaks a clear Tory manifesto promise.

Labour said the Truss government had created a “charter for earthquakes” while the Liberal Democrats said voters in rural areas were being treated as “guinea pigs” for the fracking industry.

Rees-Mogg insisted that fracking was in the national interest and would make the country richer. He suggested current limits on acceptable levels of seismic...