Lancashire MPs join forces to seek fracking sweeteners Conservative and Labour MPs in Lancashire are joining forces to demand more money for their constituents in return for "fracking rights" after concluding that the current sweeteners being offered are not good enough. The MPs want more than the current offer of £100,000 of community benefits per well drilled and the proposed 1 per cent share of revenues generated when production starts. "This is just practical politics," said Eric Ollerenshaw, Conservative MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood. We are trying to get the best deal we can for our constituents from whatever political side we are on. We don't want the crumbs off the table. We want to make sure we get something out of this for the long-term for Lancashire as a whole. In July, an official survey revealed there was more than twice as much shale gas in the northwest of England than there was previously thought to be in the entire country. This prompted Mr Ollerenshaw and Lindsay Hoyle, deputy speaker and Labour MP for Chorley, to convene a cross-party meeting to discuss tactics. The MPs have now agreed to press jointly for a greater return for allowing fracking, the technique used to unlock reserves of shale gas underground, in their county, and are now in discussions with local councils and Local Enterprise Partnerships to draw up an action plan for the autumn. David Nuttall, MP for Bury North, said it was crucial that his constituents got the "best deal possible" while Graham Jones, Labour MP for Haslingden and Hyndburn, said the MPs had agreed that any windfall should be spent on improving Lancashire's infrastructure and supporting business growth in the region. But one ministerial aide admitted on Wednesday that the Lancashire group was an irritation for the government, already fighting an uphill battle to sell the benefits of shale gas extraction to a sceptical public. If the government cedes to demands from the Lancashire group, it will inevitably have to offer concessions in other parts of the country, while stonewalling the cross-party group will only serve to build up resistance within parliament. David Cameron, who is determined not to let fracking become a toxic issue with his backbenchers, is on a charm offensive. Aides say a succession of backbenchers have been in and out of Downing Street in recent weeks to discuss fracking with Tara Singh, his energy adviser. But public resistance is still evident. This week, it emerged that the Church of England in Lancashire told its parishioners that fracking poses environmental risks and threatens "God's glorious creation." Meanwhile, 14 people appeared in court on Wednesday accused of causing disruption during protests against fracking in Balcombe, the site in West Sussex that has become a focal point for protesters after Cuadrilla tested the area for shale gas. The company has said it will it look for locations farther from human habitation after a fortnight of demonstrations. Balcombe protesters have been dismissed as "Swampies" and "extremists," by the energy spokesman for Ukip in an interview with the Financial Times. Roger Helmer, an MEP for the anti-Brussels party, is firmly in favour of shale gas, saying the fledgling industry was a "gift from heaven" that could transform Britain's energy needs and lead to a fall in energy bills for consumers. "There is a co-ordinated campaign, anti-fracking, we see all the Swampy people around in Balcombe," said Mr Helmer. There are two disparate elements, the local people who are worried, and then the usual bad guys, extremists, extreme activists, troublemakers. This was the first time Ukip has made its position clear on fracking, having been mindful of the rumblings of discontent in the Tory shires.