Thank you for
writing to me about my vote for the Lords’ Amendment 3 to the EU Withdrawal
Bill.
I am well aware
that Amendment 3 was supported by many of my constituents who care deeply about
the environment, and I can assure you that I would like to see the UK maintain
its high standards when it comes to environmental protection after we leave the
EU.
While I agree
that we need to maintaining environmental principles similar to the EU’s after
Brexit, I voted against Amendment 3 in its original form as it would have
prevented the Government from acting quickly to update environmental
regulations and constraining its ability to deliver an effective functioning
statute after we leave the EU. Not only does it create legal uncertainty; it
does not take into account that a significant proportion of environmental
legislation and policy in the UK is devolved.
I and many of
my Parliamentary colleague however, expressed our support for amendment (c) in
lieu of Amendment 3, which sets out the same EU environmental principles
including ‘polluters pay’ and ‘precautionary principle’, should be included in
a new environment bill, Environmental Principles and Governance Bill, and thus
embedding it in UK law. The bill will also create a world-leading, independent
environmental watchdog to hold the Government to account.
This bill is a
cornerstone of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ 25 Year
Environment. Consultation on the government’s white paper is open until 2
August 2018 and you can take part in the consultation on https://consult.defra.gov.uk/eu/environmental-principles-and-governance/
The Secretary
of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced that the
Government will bring forward this bill in the autumn to deliver those
proposals.
The Government
has been consistently clear on the need to ensure that our environment is
protected after we leave the EU. In addition to maintaining EU environmental
principles, the EU Withdrawal Act, which has now received Royal Assent, will
also convert all existing EU environmental laws into UK law when we finally
leave the Union next year.
Whether
you voted Leave or Remain, we can all be united in our desire to protect and
preserve our wildlife, our rivers, our seas, our beaches and our forests.
The manifesto
on which all Conservative MPs were elected in 2017 promised that we should be
the ‘first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we
inherited it in.’ As your MP, I will work hard to ensure that the
Government is able to deliver this manifesto pledge that I was elected on after
we leave the EU, in order that our future generations may enjoy a greener, more
sustainable future.
