The EU may not be perfect but it has been the

IN 1993 THE Norwegian Environment Minister called John Gummer, the UK Environment Secretary, a drittsekk – a s***bag – because of the massive impact on Scandinavian lakes and forest of acid rain caused by emissions from British power stations.

Throughout the 1980s Britain had been known as “the Dirty Man of Europe” because of our widespread pollution of air, land and water.

The European Union is far from perfect but it has been the source of almost all environmental legislation and standards in Scotland. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the products we buy and the food we eat are all cleaner and safer because of 40 years of EU rules. Collective EU targets on climate change, renewable energy and energy efficiency have pushed the UK further than we would otherwise have gone. And the European Courts have helped concentrate the minds of ministers on meeting environmental standards and protecting nature properly.

Already we have seen chemicals giant Ineos using Brexit to argue to relax climate laws and senior Tories suggesting environmental and safety standard could be slashed “a very long way” to help set up trade deals.

Fortunately, most things to do with the environment are controlled by the Scottish Parliament. So if the Government down south decides to have a bonfire of environmental protections because they can’t be bothered with clean air