As sewage pours into the sea along England’s south coast, eagle-eyed commentators are flashing back to environment minister Zac Goldsmith that environmental regulations wouldn’t be weakened after Brexit.

Filth spewing into a picturesque stretch of U.K. coastline is far from the image of post-Brexit Britain that Boris Johnson wants to portray.

Waste water plants have been told they may be allowed to discharge effluent that has not been properly treated due to chemical shortages caused by Brexit and the pandemic.

Supply chain disruption leading to fears of water treatment chemical shortage.

It has been another gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain, as a senior minister accused the EU of seeking “petty revenge” – and then hinted that the government might ban imports of European mineral water and seed potatoes.

IN September 2019, the UK Government made public its list of “reasonable worst case assumptions” in the wake of a no-deal Brexit.

'Yet a no deal outcome would still have profound implications for the uK. as we analyse in what follows, from trade to connectivity to foreign policy to cooperation in policing, a failure to strike an agreement with the eu will impact on us in numerous ways.'

A review of evidence about opportunities, challenges and risks to the North East economy and its key sectors with recommendations for action.

Zac Goldsmith’s claims that Brexit could help the environment have been utterly demolished this week.

The supply chain crisis has sparked a relaxation of rules on dumping waste water.

Instead of protecting the natural world, the proposed Office for Environmental Protection ‘could undermine the rule of law’, and lead to worse damage than under EU, lawyers say

Brussels official says UK has ‘non-regression obligation’ to protect waters as part of trade deal.

Wastewater plants in England offered waiver because of impact of lorry driver crisis.

Our sister publication, Sussex Bylines, has been publishing a series of eye-opening articles – “Toxic Shock“ on the dirty practices of Southern Water. The same appalling abuses and breaches of regulation are occurring right across the country. Readers have been horrified to learn that it is cheaper for these companies to pollute and pay the fines than to address the causes of the problem.

Many of Britain’s waters are Class B, meaning its molluscs are banned – but industry says it’s the system that is failing them, not the water.

Campaigners say revoking of post-Brexit protections amounts to legislative vandalism. / Hundreds of Britain’s environmental laws covering water quality, sewage pollution, clean air, habitat protections and the use of pesticides are lined up for removal from UK law under a government bill.

Demands for prime minister to reveal if dangers listed in ‘no-deal readiness report’ last autumn are still real – and whether they have grown because of pandemic.

The staunchly eurosceptic Daily Express has published a listicle about the “amazing things we get back if we leave EU”. / “From powerful vacuums to straight banana’s (sic), here are all the things we’ll get back if we vote out,” the paper says. / The piece has been getting widely shared online. But does it pass the FactCheck test?

Scale of aid cut emerges in leaked FCDO memo, prompting experts to describe it as ‘a national shame’

Accusations come as PM is set to meet Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin.

"You have to blame the government for this whole sorry mess. The industry is out of control and it's our rivers and beaches that are picking up the tab for that profiteering."

Ministers have been forced to publish details of concerns about public disorder and disruption to medicine and fuel supplies.

One of the supposed ‘benefits’ of Brexit was the ‘bonfire of Brussels red-tape‘ which was promised by libertarian Brexiteers. Two weeks into the administration of Liz Truss, the new government announced that they were planning to revoke 570 environmental laws which, in order to continue environmental protections, were rolled over from EU law after Brexit.

Water companies in the UK have been accused of failing to monitor the amount of sewage pumped into the sea at popular beaches across the country.