The government’s plans for a new environmental watchdog to maintain standards and hold ministers to account in post-Brexit Britain has come under near universal attack from green campaigners.
The statutory body was announced as part of ministers’ plans to protect landscapes and nature after the UK leaves the European Union.
Measures from improving air and water quality and protecting endangered species are currently overseen by the European commission and underpinned by green principles across the EU, such as “the polluter pays”.
The new watchdog will replace the EU’s mechanisms and will be backed by a law requiring ministers across Whitehall to “have regard to” core environmental principles, set out in a statement of national policy. 