Retaining Enhanced Protection

Part of European Union (Withdrawal) Bill – in the House of Commons at 4:00 pm on 15 November 2017.

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Photo of Kerry McCarthy Kerry McCarthy Labour, Bristol East 4:00, 15 November 2017

I rise to speak to my new clause 25, which has cross-party support. The Minister has already praised me from the Dispatch Box for the clarity with which I have spoken to it, but I can reassure him that now this really is me doing so. I also support new clauses 55 and 58. All these new clauses relate to retaining enhanced protections after exit day. As will be evident from other measures I have tabled, including new clause 28, which is in today’s second group, my main concern is retaining the valuable environmental protections that flow from our EU membership. However, of course, employment rights, equalities, and health and safety standards, as set out in new clause 58, which was tabled by Labour Front Benchers, are also vital, and the same arguments apply to them.

The Bill as it stands gives the Government of the day the power to water down or remove EU-derived environmental standards by statutory instrument. As ClientEarth has said, it

“would give Ministers extensive discretion to alter, amend, remove and meddle with our essential environmental safeguards without proper public scrutiny”.

In their White Paper, the Government state that

“Parliament…will be able to decide which elements of that law to keep, amend or repeal”.

“Parliament” should mean a vote by the whole Parliament, and that is what these amendments seek to achieve.

Crucial environmental protections are at stake, not just trivial, technical rules that require tweaking every now and again. The Minister was asked whether it was possible to triage and somehow separate out the technical changes from the broader, most important protections, but I was not reassured by his answer. Perhaps he can come back to us on that. These laws protect the air that we breathe, the seas that we swim in, the water we drink, our biodiversity, our ecosystems, and the stunning natural environment we so enjoy. They are laws that would have been made by primary legislation in the UK had it not been for our EU membership, and so they should be treated in that way now.

The Constitution Committee has warned of some laws

“being permanently vulnerable to being reshaped through the use of delegated powers.”

We cannot be in a position in which environmental laws that have helped to do such things as clean up dirty beaches and set standards for our air quality, often against resistance from the Government—they have had to be taken to court before the policies have been enforced—could be watered down, weakened or even scrapped by Ministers so easily.

It is true that the Government, in response to deeply held concerns that our environment will be less protected post Brexit, have said on many occasions that they are committed to maintaining or enhancing existing environmental protection. Only recently, the Environment Secretary said that

“we must not only maintain but enhance environmental standards as we leave the EU.”

That means making sure that we secure the environmental gains we have made while in the EU, even as we use our new independence to aim even higher. I am sure that the Environment Secretary spoke in good faith, but new clause 25 would mean that we do not just have to take the Government’s word for it. It does not assume that the current Environment Secretary will be in place for ever or that Secretaries of State in future Governments will accord the environment the same importance that he does. After all, his immediate predecessor in the post, who is now Leader of the House, promised a bonfire of EU red tape after Brexit. We could have a whole debate on what red tape is and what important environmental protections are, but I am in no doubt that she meant the latter as well as the former.

We cannot trust Ministers with unmitigated power over regulations on matters ranging from workers’ rights to vital environmental protections when other members of the Government have a track record of weakening protections and opposing ambitious policies at EU level. For example, in 2013, when the EU looked at a moratorium on the use of neonicotinoids, which were deemed to be harmful to bees, the UK was one of the countries that tried to oppose that moratorium and spoke out against the use of the precautionary principle. We will perhaps have a debate later about the importance of the precautionary principle. The Government have also been opposing waste targets in the circular economy package. Although Brexiteers like to say that we will be freed up post Brexit because the EU has been holding us back from ambitious action, all too often the UK has been the brake on ambitious progress on environmental matters in the EU.

Mr Grieve indicated that he will not press new clause 55, which is very similar to new clause 25, to a vote. I am afraid that I cannot share his confidence that the Government will act on his concerns, so I hope that, given the opportunity, we can seek the view of the Committee on new clause 25.