Britain's Labour government plans to permanently ban fracking, a highly controversial method of extracting fossil fuels, due its environmental impact, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said Wednesday.

Although there is a moratorium on fracking already in place due to concerns it could trigger earthquakes, fracking is not yet fully banned in law.

"Let's ban fracking," Miliband told the Labour party conference in Liverpool.

"It will trash our climate commitments, and it is dangerous and deeply harmful to our natural environment," he said.

His comments came after hard-right party Reform UK, which has surged in the polls, pledged to bring back the practice if it came to power.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is used to extract oil and gas from shale rock deep underground.

Environmentalists

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