Brexit is bad for bees… and your stomach
10/03/2024
The UK has again approved the use of a bee-killing pesticide that is banned in the EU.
Exclusive: Britain is falling behind the bloc on almost every area of green regulation, analysis reveals.
Brexit: despatches from the downside – No 19
27/01/2024
This week's Brexit downsides: half a billion in extra costs to import food, the collapse of trade talks with Canada and more.
When the government announced this year it would indefinitely delay plans to force UK companies to adopt a new post-Brexit quality mark, the UKCA, Simon Blackham, of the insulation maker Recticel, was delighted. “Yes! An outbreak of common sense,” he recalls thinking. / His joy was short-lived, however.
EU restricts use of eight chemicals, with 16 more in pipeline; UK has two under consideration.
They talked about the benefits of community farming for wellbeing and biodiversity, as well as the risks posed by pesticides and lower environmental standards.
Post-Brexit India deal could cut thousands of jobs in Leave-voting areas, and hike food prices
18/05/2023
British rice milling industry faces wipe-out from part of a trade deal being discussed with India. First proposed by Boris Johnson, it is also predicted to raise consumer food prices and break UK limits on pesticides.
UK preparing to lift tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia as price for joining CPTPP trade agreement. / Britain is preparing to sign off on a post-Brexit trade deal that campaigners say will encourage further destruction of nature, threaten the habitat of orangutans in Malaysia and make a mockery of the government’s claims of being committed to tackling deforestation abroad.
Thousands of pro-consumer laws we take for granted could expire at the end of 2023.
A bill to remove EU-derived laws that include 570 environmental regulations will cause serious ecological harm, charities and MPs have warned.
Brexit is also impacting the tools pest controllers have readily available to tackle vermin as less companies opt to pay to put their products through UK-specific regulation processes.
The government’s “Brexit freedoms bill” could see all legal protections from pesticides abolished, wildlife campaigners have warned, putting insects, wildlife and human health in danger.
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.
Activists file formal complaint alleging government has breached international law in signing deal.
Select committee says ministers want to rush through deal allowing food imports that fall below UK environmental standards.
Government condemned for trying ‘to rush it through’ – in echoes of Northern Ireland Protocol now being torn up. / MPs should block the Australia trade deal because the government has broken a promise to allow it to be scrutinised properly, a damning report says.
Ministers criticised for failing to fight for ‘ambitious’ commitments to cut CO2 emissions.
Tory MPs urge government to scrap EU pesticide regulations and allow all US chemicals on food
14/06/2022
Conservative MPs have urged the government to use its Brexit freedoms to ditch the EU’s cautious approach to making sure pesticides are safe for human consumption.
American agricultural lobby groups had criticised some of the import bans.
Ruptures have once again emerged across government over the direction of the UK’s post-Brexit trade policy, with environment secretary George Eustice raising concerns about a potential deal with India.
Environmental groups are unsatisfied with Green Brexit's weaker regulations. The UK's touted departure from the EU has led to a great reshuffling of regulations across the board. However, for many environmental advocacy groups, these changes are quickly proving to be not in the planet's favor.
‘We need urgent action to restore the abundance of our insect populations, not broken promises that make the ecological crisis even worse,’ says Wildlife Trusts
Tate & Lyle: Brexit-backing firm that donated to Tories set to save £73m from trade change
09/08/2020
Company denies ‘sweet deal’ that will import sugar cane from countries with lower employment and environmental standards.
WHEN asked whether US food standards would ever be accepted in post-Brexit Britain, the unequivocal response from Cabinet Minister Michael Gove was “over my dead body”.
BORDER checks between Scotland, England and Wales could be required because of varying food standards after Brexit, academics have warned.