Gove praises Mail as toxic beads banned
MiCHAEl Gove has praised the Daily Mail for its campaign against toxic microbeads, which are banned from today.
The Environment Secretary said the Mail had led the way with its Ban the Beads now campaign, launched in 2016 to highlight their devastating effect on marine life.
He said the country should be ‘proud’ to have one of the world’s toughest bans on the plastic beads, which pollute seas and rivers.
He told the Mail: ‘From today, products containing microbeads will no longer be on supermarket shelves – saving our sea life from this entirely unnecessary source of pollution.
‘The Daily Mail has been leading the way through its Ban the Beads campaign. We should all be proud we now have one of the world’s toughest bans on these toxic beads.’
But he said more work was needed, and the Government was ‘ pressing ahead’ with plans for a bottle deposit return scheme and banning straws, stirrers and cotton buds.
The ban on the sale of products containing plastic microbeads – including face scrubs, soaps and toothpastes – comes into force in England and Scotland today, with Wales and northern ireland to follow. The beads are washed down the drain and end up in rivers and oceans, and their manufacture was banned in January. The UK dumps 86 tonnes of the beads, mostly made from hardy polyethylene, in the sea each year, where they collect in marine life. Some experts believe they can enter the food chain.
The Mail has led the campaign to end plastic pollution over the past ten years through its Turn the Tide on plastic campaign. Our Ban the Bags campaign led to the 5p charge, and recently the Daily Mail’s Great plastic pick Up saw volunteers remove many tonnes of plastic waste.
Dr Sue Kinsey, of the Marine Conservation Society, said: ‘This is the strongest and most comprehensive ban to be enacted in the world so far and will help to stem the flow of microplastics into our oceans ... We look forward to seeing further actions to combat plastic waste.’
TWO months ago, after a long-running Mail campaign, Theresa May unveiled a campaign to wage war on the scourge of prostate cancer. A disturbing new study shows how desperately that campaign is needed.
Nearly half of all patients are being denied access to potentially life-saving MRI scans – having to rely instead on painful and less effective biopsies. There is also evidence of age discrimination, with all over-75s being refused scans in some hospitals. The NHS has made huge improvements to breast cancer survival rates, thanks to effective screening and early diagnosis. Prostate cancer sufferers must have the same priority. THE Mail welcomes Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s ban on the toxic microbeads that destroy marine life and endanger health. There’s still a long way to go before society is weaned off its addiction to plastic – but this measure will make a huge contribution.