items
'Brexit to blame' for UK’s sewage problems
22/08/2022
"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."
'Is this a red line for us?' $15b European trade deal doomed if Australia dodges Paris pledge
31/08/2018
The Coalition's internal climate war risks damaging the economy after Europe declared it would reject a $15 billion trade deal with Australia unless the Morrison government keeps its pledge to cut pollution under the Paris accord.
There were sighs of relief in many quarters when it was announced that the British government was not going ahead with plans for a wholesale bonfire of EU regulation.
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.
A post-Brexit customs centre for up to 10,000 lorries has been earmarked for a 27-acre site in Kent, in a plan the local MP says came "out of the blue".
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.
Opposition to the retained EU law bill is mounting, as the government discovers the importance and popularity of EU law.
Did you know that many of our environmental laws - from how we manage our fisheries, to standards on marine pollution, to how we protect many species and habitats - come from the European Union?
Brexit bonfire of environment regulations will kill otters, dolphins and birds, warn conservationists
23/09/2022
Government’s plan to ‘streamline’ environmental regulations could put dormice, porpoises and bats under threat.
Brexit bonfire of EU laws could let water companies conceal sewage discharges, campaigners warn
14/03/2023
The Environmental Information Regulation allows the public to demand data from private water companies, but it is at risk of being scrapped by the Government.
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.
Brexit law bonfire could cost put environment at risk and cost tens of billions of pounds, nature groups warn
19/01/2023
Nature organisations have hit out at legislation that they say could lead to the loss of important environmental protections and cost the UK tens of billions of pounds.
The UK's Environment Information Regulations have enabled researchers and campaigners to force water firms to publish data on river pollution, but they may be scrapped as part of the Brexit process.
Powers passed to help in dealing with the impact of Brexit are being used for the first time to ensure Scotland’s drinking water aligns with standards set by the European Union.
Findings cast doubt on Boris Johnson commitment to climate action ahead of key summit, Commission claims.
'Global Britain' could increase emissions by the equivalent of 44,000 transatlantic flights, research found.
Brexit’s dirty legacy just got dirtier
07/09/2021
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.
Brussels official says UK has ‘non-regression obligation’ to protect waters as part of trade deal.
British beaches inundated with sewage while water quality across the EU dramatically improves
22/08/2022
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.
Ministers are facing a clash with opposition and Conservative MPs over their plans to scrap EU-era laws copied over to UK law after Brexit.
The European Commission will propose on Tuesday (14 January) how the EU can pay for shifting the region’s economy to net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 while protecting coal-dependent regions from taking the brunt of changes aimed at fighting climate change.
“Europe is setting new and ambitious standards, paving the way for the rest of the world.” / The European parliament has voted to ban single-use plastic cutlery, cotton buds, straws and stirrers as part of a sweeping law against plastic waste that despoils beaches and pollutes oceans.
The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives brought forward by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral in 2050.
Air pollution enforcement and chemical regulations could be undermined after UK leaves EU, say campaigners.
Farmers will no longer have to follow EU regulations in areas such as reducing agricultural runoff into rivers.
Fish farm pollution rules relaxed for Brexit
03/02/2021
Fish farming companies are being allowed to breach environmental limits and pollute lochs because of export problems caused by Brexit.
Flagship Brexit freeport at East Midlands Airport accused of poisoning River Trent with de-icer
05/07/2023
East Midlands airport has been accused of causing sewage fungus in the River Trent with pollution up to 32 times worse than raw sewage. The Environment Agency is investigating.
Work on an "emergency lorry park" in Kent to accommodate up to 10,000 vehicles bound for Europe began without the knowledge of residents.
Thousands of lorries may have to queue to get into Europe after December 31
Government says polluters can dump raw sewage into rivers as Brexit disrupts water treatment
07/09/2021
Supply chain disruption leading to fears of water treatment chemical shortage.
The so-called “green Brexit” promised by the government has not been delivered, a coalition of environment groups says.
The UK could find itself off the hook over cases such as breaches of air pollution levels and a failure to act on peat bog burning, which campaigners say can exacerbate flooding.
With political chaos brewing in Northern Ireland because of trade rules, a related threat means that post-Brexit UK market rules could stop Scotland setting higher environmental standards than other parts of the UK.
Jacob Rees-Mogg issues plea to readers of The Sun to flag possible Brexit benefits to him
10/02/2022
Jacob Rees-Mogg has issued a plea to readers of a tabloid newspaper to write to him if they can identify any possible benefits of Brexit.
"Just 25 years ago one in four British beaches were too dirty to swim in. Now 95 per cent of our beaches have a clean bill of health."
Londoners’ lives put at risk by Government’s bungled post-Brexit targets to tackle toxic air, warns watchdog
01/11/2022
Londoners’ lives are being put at risk by the Government’s bungled post-Brexit targets to tackle toxic air, a watchdog warned on Tuesday.
Michael Gove has failed to name a single change from Brexit that has “made business easier”, as criticism of the economic harm from the trade deal grows.
arning that UK in danger of sliding back to 1970s reputation as ‘dirty man of Europe’.
Greener UK claims analysis shows rhetoric on environment not being matched by action.
There are more EU era environmental laws to review after Brexit than had been previously known, the environment secretary has suggested.
A 27-acre site is being built to handle trucks amid fears that new trade rules will slow freight movement. It has been nicknamed the “Farage Garage” after the pro-Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.
An independent environment watchdog has been established to make sure Scotland is meeting the highest standards on everything from pollution to wildlife conservation.
No-deal Brexit could force Kent schools into ‘lockdown’ due to air pollution from traffic congestion
23/01/2019
'It is prudent that schools begin to plan for possibility of disruption following Brexit'
79 organisations have joined together to write an open letter to the Prime Minister urging her to change the Government's trajectory on environmental deregulation, which is set to harm our people, planet and prosperity.
Post-Brexit delay on air quality standards condemns more London children to breathing toxic air
15/11/2022
Ministers were accused on Tuesday of condemning another generation of children to breathing toxic air in London and other parts of Britain by setting a target to tackle it only by 2040.
Rules on waste water discharge eased due to supply shortages linked to Brexit and pandemic
07/09/2021
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.
Wastewater plants in England offered waiver because of impact of lorry driver crisis.
The supply chain crisis has sparked a relaxation of rules on dumping waste water.
The UK is threatening health and marine life on the French coast by allowing raw sewage to be dumped in the Channel and North Sea, say three Euro MPs.
Europe’s bid to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 will aim for a just, rapid shift away from high polluting industries and technologies.
This Communication sets out a European Green Deal for the European Union (EU) and its citizens.
The last chance to save us from a no-deal Brexit has now slipped by. Here’s what we lost today
01/07/2020
The negotiations which will set our relationship with our closest neighbours for the next generation are being rushed in a reckless game of chicken.
The next generation will reject Brexit and the way it diminished our country – Europe will welcome us back
03/11/2021
Across the world, there is incomprehension at what we have done to ourselves.
Zac Goldsmith’s claims that Brexit could help the environment have been utterly demolished this week.
Reckless cuts and the impact of Brexit have left rivers dangerously polluted.
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.
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.
Deleting national emissions ceiling regulations as part of scrapping EU laws ‘a clear example of deregulation’. / The government is ignoring its post-Brexit green watchdog over the removal of air quality regulations, in a move that has been described by experts as “a clear example of deregulation”.
Experts warn UK’s regulations now lag behind those of the EU and that Britons will be exposed to more toxic chemicals as a result.
The government is to loosen EU-derived laws on chemicals in a move experts say will increase the likelihood of toxic substances entering the environment.
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
The Government has effectively made it cheaper for firms to pollute in Britain in what some see as another anti-green move by Rishi Sunak’s administration.
EU rules designed to protect rivers from agricultural pollution are set to come to an end on 1 January 2024. / A Brexit law change is set to worsen the state of Britain’s rivers as the Government ditches old EU rules designed to protect the waterways from agricultural pollution.
A bill to remove EU-derived laws that include 570 environmental regulations will cause serious ecological harm, charities and MPs have warned.
‘Playing with fire:’ Scrapping rules to keep rivers clean after Brexit stirs up Tory rebellion
01/03/2023
Ministers have refused to rule out scrapping EU regulations that protect swimmers and wildlife.
|
types
◈ article ×2
◈ news ×55
◈ opinion ×4
◈ text ×2
◈ video ×1
◈ wiki ×1
related tags
◈ environment ×40
◈ water ×25
◈ sewage ×20
◈ rivers ×20
◈ deregulation ×17
◈ chemicals ×16
◈ EU regulations ×14
◈ beaches ×12
◈ DEFRA ×10
◈ climate change ×10
|