Labour is divided over its proposed fracking ban – Cuadrilla chief

Accusation comes only weeks before the UK's first fracking in seven years

The shale gas explorer Cuadrilla has accused the Labour party of being divided on its proposed fracking ban and of unnecessarily politicising the search for shale gas.

Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, which is only weeks away from beginning the UK's first fracking in seven years, said the prospect of a Labour government coming to power was a risk that he would be "silly to ignore".