Exclusive: Labour ministers choosing to weaken green protections inherited from the bloc, analysis reveals
From clean air to pesticides: how UK has lagged behind EU on the environment
The UK is using Brexit to weaken crucial environmental protections and is falling behind the EU despite Labour’s manifesto pledge not to dilute standards, analysis has found.
Experts have said ministers are choosing to use Brexit to “actively go backwards” in some cases, though there are also areas where the UK has improved nature laws such as by banning sand eel fishing.
Despite having promised a “reset” with the EU, Keir Starmer’s government has failed to even start closing loopholes in environmental law that have widened since Brexit, and is in some cases choosing to delete EU environmental rules from the statute book.
