What will fall through cracks?

Let’s please consider the potentially dire consequences for nature of leaving the EU without a deal. No deal means no handover period.

That means government and public bodies here would need to take on responsibility for the hundreds of EU laws overnight. Where on earth will the staffing and funding come from to do this? What will fall through the cracks?

Currently, 80 per cent of our environmental laws come from the EU. It’s meant beaches safe for bathing, cleaner air and protection for nature – good news for wildlife and our health. It’s true that we can do better than the Common Agricultural

Policy, and I welcome the opportunity to do that. But the UK has a track record of trying to weaken EU environmental protections, for example by supporting GM crops, weaker pesticides regulations and weaker habitats protection.

With no deal, any UK government would be able to lower environmental standards when it suits them, for example when negotiating new trade deals with countries outside the EU. Linking back with your recent article about local growers, this would undermine the high standards of food production currently practiced by our farmers, and subject them to unfair competition from abroad.

This government could finally dignify itself and all of us by ‘getting Brexit done’ with a deal that benefits all sides, and protect our environment and our health.