BARROW and Furness MP Simon Fell has weighed in on the debate surrounding controversial plans for a new coal mine in West Cumbria.

Mr Fell stressed the 'crucial point' at the centre of Whitehaven mine issue was that the site would extract coking coal for making steel rather than thermal coal for power generation.

"There is no commercial alternative to this available, so either we continue to ship tonnes of coking coal from countries like Russia and Australia, or we produce it in the UK with out high environmental standards wrapped around the process," he said.

"Steel underpins every single renewable technology that we need to employ to hit our net zero target.

"It is simply unacceptable to push the carbon debt of this to other countries like Russia or China, where they do not put in the same controls, and for us to pretend that it is someone else's problem."

He said the country could not 'pat ourselves on the back for a job well done on net zero in 2050' if 'emissions have just been off-shored'.

Last week, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, wrote to the president of the COP26 Climate Change Conference, Alok Sharma, urging him to resign over the issue.

Last month, it was reported that Mr Sharma had clashed with communities secretary Robert Jenrick over Mr Jenrick’s decision not to call in the application.

On Sunday, Labour’s shadow business secretary, Ed Miliband, also criticised the plans.

The former Labour Leader appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show and was pressed for his thoughts on the mine.

Mr Miliband said: “We can’t be opening new coal mines and then claiming to be a big climate leader in our country.

“The Government is hosting a very important summit in November, the COP26 on international climate change.

“We’re going to be saying to other countries, 'you can’t open coal mines', and then the Government comes along and says ‘we’re going to open a new coal mine ourselves’. We have got to find alternatives.”

Copeland’s mayor, Mike Starkie, blasted Mr Miliband’s comments on Facebook.

He wrote: “This is a perfect example of why Labour have not got a single MP in Cumbria and lost seats in Copeland and Workington that they had held for generations. They do not support jobs or investment in West Cumbria.

“The coal to be extracted from the Whitehaven mine will be coking coal to be used exclusively for the production of steel.

“Much is being made of the climate conference to be held in the UK later this year.

“I believe the prime minister can stand on the stage and be justifiably proud of the progress this country has made, as we are reducing emissions faster than any of the leading economies.”