It will be interesting to see if things turn nasty in Balcombe this weekend, so I'm going to leave this thread up for anyone who has any news to impart. The weather forecast is not good, which may dampen things down somewhat, but the threat of violence from environmentalists has led to Cuadrilla suspending operations already. The thugs and their apologists in Westminster and the left-wing press have already won a major victory.
The battle over shale gas extraction feels like David Cameron's miner's strike - the threats of violence are the same, the longing to put the UK's lights out is the same, the stakes are just as high.
I'm really not sure that Cameron is up to this though.
Bishop Hill
Apparently the Times is reporting that the British Geological Survey is going to report that there are very large quantities of shale oil underneath the Weald. Paywalled story here.