UK Parliament / Open data

European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

No, I will not. I am sorry. The crucial part of the amendment is subsection (4), which talks about,

“an independent body with the purpose of ensuring compliance with environmental law by public authorities”.

When I was chairman of the Environment Agency, action was taken on some of the major issues affecting our environment—such as the fact that we discharge raw sewage into the River Thames 20 times or more a year, and the lethal levels of air pollution in our cities—only because of the prospect of infraction proceedings from the EU. If we lose that lever, we lose the ability to tackle these major environmental issues. It is essential that we insist—not just as part of the consultation but now—that the powers of the new environmental watchdog include the ability to take that sort of legal action.

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

791 c691 

Session

2017-19

Chamber / Committee

House of Lords chamber
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