The former environment secretary has warned it would be a “terrible mistake” for the new government to scrap protections for nature in a dash for economic growth.
George Eustice MP said “the body language” of the new administration has unsettled wildlife groups, and he urged the government to commit to green growth that creates jobs and improves the environment.
In an exclusive interview with Sky News, he said: “We will only have sustainable growth if we’re looking after our planet.
Tory MPs turn on Truss as PM scrambles to save job – Politics news live
“You are always going to need to have strict protections for species that are vulnerable or endangered. And you’re always going to need to have some strict protections for certain habitats.
“You can’t just turn a blind eye and say: These don’t matter.”
The RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, the National Trust and other environmental charities are alarmed by the government’s lack of commitment to nature in its growth plans.
They fear regulations that protect plants and animals, and set standards for air and water quality, could disappear or be watered down.
Mr Eustice said while he was in office he had developed an agricultural policy that incentivised farmers to enhance nature, including the use of herbal leys, a mixture of grass and flowering plants that are good for soil, livestock, and wildlife.
“It would be a terrible mistake to abandon that,” he said.
“The way you get growth is by having healthy soils, a healthy environment, and actually embracing some of those regenerative agricultural techniques that our policy was all about encouraging.
“If you abandon that and go back to the sort of 1970s vision of heavy use of pesticides and unsustainable cropping of land, then I think you’re in a bad position both for the resilience of farming financially but also for nature.”
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. According to the RSPB, 41% of plant and animal species are in decline and 15% are at risk of extinction.
Mr Eustice added that some environmental regulations based on EU directives were “clunky” and didn’t do a proper job in protecting nature.
But they should be simplified, not scrapped.
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He said: “I hope we’re not going to see a reversion to people talking about newts and bats being the problem, because they’re not.
“It is not about nature being the barrier to growth. It’s some of the processes that were set up that were more cumbersome than they needed to be.”
The government said it was committed to reversing the decline in nature by 2030.
Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.
The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.
McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.
McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP
McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP
“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.
“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.
Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
Pic: AP
McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.
The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.
How did McIlroy get to the victory?
McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.
The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.
The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.
UK
Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way
Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.
The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.
It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.
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British Steel: What happens next?
Companies including Tata – which ran the now-closed Port Talbot steelworks – and Rainham Steel have offered managerial support and materials to keep the Lincolnshire site running.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.
“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.
“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”
Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks
Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.
Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.
However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.
Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.
“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”
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‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’
Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.
The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.
The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.
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Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “The Labour Government have landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making.
“They’ve made poor decisions and let the unions dictate their actions.”
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