Jacob Rees-Mogg: is the energy secretary's claim Vladimir Putin is behind opposition to fracking true?

The Business and Energy Secretary's remarks in Parliament suggested Russian roubles were finding their way into protesters' pockets to prop up their campaign to keep shale gas locked deep underground in the UK.

The impression given certainly fitted the paranoid conspiracy theories that Putin's propaganda war with the West had now plumbed new depths, especially here in Lancashire where fracking has been a cause celebre for more than a decade.

But is there any truth behind what Mr Rees-Mogg said in Parliament about fracking? The Post examined some of his key claims made in Parliament.

What did Jacob Rees-Mogg say about fracking and Vladimir Putin?

The minister didn't actually say what we thought he said. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, he did not produce any hard evidence to back up the claim we thought he was claiming.

Indeed, examining his actual words as he lifted the three-year ban on shale gas extraction, Mr Rees-Mogg was shrewd enough to accuse others for the slur on the Kremlin.

Answering questions in the Commons, he said: "I'm well aware that there have been objections to fracking, but I would also note that there have been stories widely reported that some of the opposition to ... fracking has been funded by Mr Putin's regime."

And on that score he was absolutely right. Stories about Russian interference in the energy debate - and not just here in Britain - go back to long before the oil and gas crisis created in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

In 2014 a similar accusation of Russian involvement came from the-then NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen who declared: "I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations - environmental organisations working against shale gas - to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas."

But crucially, Mr Rasmussen, like Mr Rees-Mogg, did not give any further details and relied purely on hearsay to fuel the fire.

Why did Jacob Rees-Mogg link Vladimir Putin with fracking?

Mr Rees-Mogg's reference to "widely reported" stories could also be a reference to an article written by respected columnist Matt Ridley in The Sun in March.

In it he claimed the Russians had been lobbying behind the scenes against shale gas, "worried about losing their grip on the world’s gas supplies."

Quoting what NATO chief Rasmussen said in 2014, he wrote: "Unlike most conspiracy theories about Russian meddling in Western politics, this one is out there in plain sight.

"The Centre for European Studies found that the Russian government has invested $95 million in NGOs (non-governmental organisations) campaigning against shale gas.

"Russia Today television ran endless anti-fracking stories, including one that frackers are the moral equivalent of paedophiles."

What did Lancashire’s and other MPs say about Jacob Rees-Mogg’s claims?

Thursday's Parliamentary statement by the new energy secretary came in answer to a question from Lancaster and Fleetwood MP Cat Smith.

Ms Smith said: "One thing I think the Secretary of State is perhaps not aware of, is the strength of opposition to fracking in communities like mine in Lancashire.

"I'd like to ask the Secretary of State if he can be very clear to my constituents in Lancaster and Fleetwood whether or not they will be given a decision on whether or not fracking happens in Lancashire?"

Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband tweeted: "Absolutely outrageous slur by Jacob Rees-Mogg that people who object to fracking are funded by Putin. Shameful and disgraceful."