The Brexit Opportunities minister told Friday’s Chopper’s Politics podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player at the top of this article: “We need a good understanding of what the real risks are before we can decide whether or not it is safe.

“We have set limits on site seismic activity that are so low that they can only be measured with specialist measuring equipment. The worst you normally get from fracking is less than you get from a rockfall in a disused coal mine.

“It does worry me that people hear about something on the Richter scale and they immediately think it’s the San Francisco earthquake. This is not true. We need a good understanding of what the real risks are before we can decide whether or not it is safe.”

Mr Rees-Mogg said “what really matters is that people should be able to heat their homes at an affordable level and that this is going to be heavily dependent on gas for years to come”.

He added that “2050 [the net zero target year] is still quite a long time away… it doesn’t change the long-term ambition. That’s fine. But in the meantime, let’s do it for ourselves. Let’s make sure we have energy security.

“All life is about balancing risk, isn’t it? That’s just the nature of humanity… there are risks in terms of the effect on areas.”

Mr Rees-Mogg’s comments come after it emerged that Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, is supporting a push within the Cabinet to convince Mr Johnson to approve the return of fracking in the UK.

Others around the Cabinet table including Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, are yet to be convinced and believe the safety of such drilling techniques is unproven.

Listen to the full interview with Jacob Rees-Mogg on Chopper’s Politics, The Telegraph’s weekly political podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.