We can't simply sit back and assume vital protections for healthy air, clean beaches and precious wildlife will remain in place. / It’s often said at green-tinged events that no-one in the Brexit referendum voted for a poorer environment. What they’re saying - correctly - is that there’s no public mandate for lower environmental standards.

The scenario which now looks plausible is this: the UK heads for a hard Brexit completely cutting ties with the EU, and turns itself into a low-tax, low-standards economy, destroying decades of law building up environmental protection.