Brexit divergence from EU destroying UK’s vital environmental protections

Exclusive: Britain is falling behind the bloc on almost every area of green regulation, analysis reveals

Vital legal protections for the environment and human health are being destroyed in post-Brexit departures from European legislation, a detailed analysis by the Guardian reveals.

The UK is falling behind the EU on almost every area of environmental regulation, as the bloc strengthens its legislation while the UK weakens it. In some cases, ministers are removing EU-derived environmental protections from the statute book entirely.

Water in the UK will be dirtier than in the EU.

There will be more pesticides in Britain’s soil.

Companies will be allowed to produce products containing chemicals that the EU has restricted for being dangerous.

EU-derived air pollution laws that will be removed under the retained EU law bill.

Dozens of chemicals banned in the EU are still available for use in the UK.

Thirty-six pesticides banned in the EU have not been outlawed in the UK.

The UK is falling behind on reducing carbon emissions as the EU implements carbon pricing.

The EU is compensating those who are struggling to afford the costs of the green transition, while the UK is not.

The EU is implementing stricter regulations on battery recycling, while the UK is not.

Deforestation is being removed from the EU supply chain, while the UK’s proposed scheme is more lax and does not come in until a year later.

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Northern Ireland ‘dirty corner of Europe’ due to lack of governance, say experts

Campaigners say keeping higher EU standards post-Brexit will have little impact as existing rules are already being flouted

Northern Ireland’s environment is unlikely to benefit from higher EU standards because the country already flouts the existing rules, leaving it in a “grossly degraded” state, experts have said.

The region may escape a post-Brexit erosion of UK environmental law but still suffer grave environmental damage because of governance failures, they warned.

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Home Office hires hangar for staff to practise Rwanda deportations

Officials will be taught how to carry out deportations, including how to handle people who physically resist

The Home Office has hired an aircraft hangar and aeroplane body to train security staff on how to deport people, as the UK government increases the number of people it forcibly removes each year.

Officials confirmed on Friday the department had increased its capacity to train officials to carry out deportations, including how to handle people who physically resist. Details of the expansion of the programme were first reported by the Times.

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Rishi Sunak faces more questions over Rwanda plan amid reports Home Office prepared protest scenarios – UK politics live

Home Office reportedly hired hangar and aircraft fuselage to rehearse forcing people onto flights as Ruth Davidson says they are ‘probably never going to happen’

The European court of human rights (ECHR) has issued a press release stating that Ireland has lodged an inter-state application against the UK over the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

In its release, it says:

The Irish Government argue that certain provisions of the act are not compatible with the European Convention. The Irish Government allege, in particular, that sections 19, 39, 40 and 41 of the act guarantee immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences, provided that certain conditions are met, contrary to [articles of the convention]

The Northern Ireland Troubles (legacy and reconciliation) bill was introduced by Boris Johnson’s administration in 2021 and became law in September. The government said it would draw a line under a conflict that killed more than 3,600 people from 1969 to 1998 and left thousands of cases unresolved. The legislation offers immunity to security force veterans and former paramilitaries who cooperate with a new commission for reconciliation and information recovery.

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Port Talbot steelworks owners expected to confirm blast furnace shutdown

Union representatives protest over ‘crushing blow’ to workers and industry, with 3,000 jobs at risk

The owners of the Port Talbot steelworks are expected to confirm the shutdown of its blast furnaces on Friday morning, putting almost 3,000 jobs at risk.

Trade union representatives have gathered outside the gates of the works in south Wales to protest against the decision, which members have said will be a “crushing blow” to workers and UK steelmaking.

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‘Just a person who liked chips’: Bristol takeaway celebrates Cary Grant ties

Rendezvous restaurant loved by young Archibald Leach marks film star’s 120th birthday

There was singing, story-telling, sparking wine – and chips galore as a double anniversary celebration was staged for a Hollywood star and the modest restaurant and takeaway he used to love.

The joyful bash was held to mark what would have been Cary Grant’s 120th birthday and the 60th anniversary of the Rendezvous fish and chip shop that the actor used to frequent in his home town of Bristol.

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Retail slump raises spectre of recession as Hunt looks more Truss-like by the day

Surprise fall in December sales damages chancellor’s claims that UK economy is on right track

The UK economy was probably in recession during the second half of 2023 if the latest retail sales figures are anything to go by.

A surprise 3.2% slump in the level of sales in Great Britain during December appears to show the cost of living crisis was continuing to hurt household finances despite a rise in wages that gave many consumers a bit more spending power.

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Cop28 deal will fail unless rich countries quit fossil fuels, says climate negotiator

G77 president Pedro Pedroso warns deal risks failing if polluters like UK, US and Canada don’t rethink plans to expand oil and gas

The credibility of the Cop28 agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels rides on the world’s biggest historical polluters like the US, UK and Canada rethinking current plans to expand oil and gas production, according to the climate negotiator representing 135 developing countries.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Pedro Pedroso, the outgoing president of the G77 plus China bloc of developing countries, warned that the landmark deal made at last year’s climate talks in Dubai risked failing.

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Social enterprise offers young people paid opportunity to protect UK oceans

Sea Ranger Service will offer the chance to carry out maintenance work and climate research on sailing vessels

A social enterprise has launched offering people between the ages of 18 and 29 the chance to protect the seas around the UK while getting paid.

The Sea Ranger Service (SRS) will offer young people the chance to sail out to sea and undertake vital work to conserve Britain’s oceans.

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Home Office U-turns on rights of EU citizens who were in UK pre-Brexit

‘Lack of awareness’ of EU settled status scheme restored as reasonable grounds for late applications by permanent residence card holders

The Home Office has made a significant U-turn on the rights of EU citizens who were in the UK before Brexit.

It is going to reverse a rule it made in August that barred those who mistakenly applied for permanent residency cards after the referendum to make a late application for EU settled status if they were unaware of the specially created immigration scheme.

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Tata Steel to shut down Port Talbot blast furnaces, putting 3,000 jobs at risk

Firm rejects union plan, leaving UK on course to become only major economy unable to make steel from scratch

The owners of Port Talbot steelworks have rejected a trade union plan designed to keep its blast furnaces running, putting nearly 3,000 jobs at risk and leaving the UK on course to become the only major economy unable to make steel from scratch.

In what one union said would be a “crushing blow” to workers and UK steelmaking, Port Talbot’s parent company, the Indian-owned Tata Steel, told workers’ representatives that it could no longer afford to continue production at the loss-making plant in south Wales while it completed a four-year transition plan to greener production.

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Rishi Sunak challenges House of Lords to accept ‘the will of the people’ and pass Rwanda bill – UK politics live

Prime minister says he wants first flight to leave ‘as soon as practicably possible’ but will not give date

Q: When you said you would stop the boats, people thought that meant reducing them to negligble numbers. That is not going to happen, is it?

Sunak says he is proud of the progress he has made. He always said it would be difficult.

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UK banks expect sharp rise in defaults on unsecured debt

Lenders forecast biggest quarterly increase in missed repayments on credit cards and loans since 2009

Business live – latest updates

Britain’s biggest high street lenders expect the sharpest rise in defaults on unsecured lending since 2009, according to a Bank of England survey, as households come under growing pressure amid the cost of living crisis.

The figures from Threadneedle Street show banks expect a marked rise in the number of people who fail to meet repayments on credit cards, loans and other forms of unsecured borrowing over the next three months.

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Two men jailed on racist police officer’s evidence have convictions overturned

Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin’s convictions linked to British Transport Police officer Derek Ridgewell posthumously quashed

Two men who were jailed based on evidence from a racist and corrupt police officer have had their convictions posthumously overturned by the court of appeal.

Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin are the 10th and 11th people to have convictions relating to the British Transport Police (BTP) officer DS Derek Ridgewell quashed. Their appeals after a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) were uncontested on Thursday.

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To rhyme with ‘cone’ or ‘gone’? Countdown’s Susie Dent reveals most common question

Programme’s lexicographer says audiences are consumed by correct pronunciation of the word ‘scone’

As the in-house lexicographer on Channel 4’s enduringly popular Countdown programme, Susie Dent has been arbitrating on word-related disputes for more than 30 years.

Now, Britain’s most famous word expert has revealed the question she is asked most frequently about the sometimes idiosyncratic English language: the correct pronunciation of the word “scone”.

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Royal Mail hails best Christmas for four years – but staff miss £500 bonus

Delivery company says nearly all festive deliveries arrived on time and its revenues rose

Royal Mail has said it had its best Christmas for four years, with nearly all festive deliveries arriving on time – despite missing a target that would have handed postal workers a £500 bonus.

The delivery company’s owner, International Distributions Services (IDS), on Thursday reported group revenues rose nearly 10% to £3.6bn in the final three months of 2023.

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‘Greedy and dishonest’ touts sold tickets worth £6.5m, court hears

Ed Sheeran and Little Mix fans among those targeted by firm that resold on Viagogo and StubHub

Ticket touts acting out of “greed and dishonesty” sold tickets worth £6.5m to music fans, a court has heard, as a woman known as the “Ticket Queen” pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading nearly seven years after being named in an Observer investigation.

TQ Tickets Ltd, owned by Maria Chenery-Woods of Norfolk, used fake identities to hoover up large numbers of tickets for acts such as Ed Sheeran and Little Mix, prosecutors for National Trading Standards said.

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Sheryl Sandberg to leave board of Facebook parent Meta

Former chief operating officer was lead architect of Facebook’s digital advertising-driven business model

Sheryl Sandberg is to step down from the board of Facebook’s parent company, Meta, nearly two years after quitting her executive role at the business.

Sandberg was the lead architect of Facebook’s digital advertising-driven business model as Meta’s chief operating officer.

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Middle East conflicts and the Rwanda bill – Politics Weekly UK podcast

As tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, this week John Harris speaks to Niku Jafarnia of Human Rights Watch about the regional conflicts. The Rwanda bill passed its third reading and Pippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor, reveals what happened behind the scenes. And the former No 10 adviser Gavin Barwell talks about the increasingly vicious struggles within the Conservative party

Archive: GB News

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