Eric Pickles' taste for dogma over democracy does not bode well for anti-frackers | Damian Carrington

#Energy

From bin collections to windfarms and fracking, the communities secretary and supposed champion of localism has made it clear localism only stretches as far local opinions that he shares

Communities secretary Eric Pickles, appointed this week as the final arbiter of fracking applications across half of Britain, never misses an opportunity to play the part of the man of the people. Watch him in full flow, as I have, and you will find his speeches stuffed with folksy anecdotes and earthy phrases.

My favourite is well-known and from 2010: Its a basic right for every English man and woman to be able to put the remnants of their chicken tikka masala in their bin without having to wait a fortnight for it to be collected.

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