Saplings in prisons and bogs on military ranges: Labour’s plans for nature-friendly state land
Tree nurseries could be built at prisons, and military ranges could be turned into heathland or peat bogs as part of an ambitious plan to make government land more nature-friendly, the environment secretary has said.Speaking before elections this week in which Labour is under pressure from the Green party, Emma Reynolds said such projects showed the government’s intent in restoring natural habitats.Under a scheme due to be confirmed in the coming weeks, land owned by the Department for Transport around roads and rail lines would have more “green bridges” to help wildlife move safely.Another possibility would be a greater use of solar panels on government buildings.The projects would aim to bring wider improvements, with the tree nurseries on Ministry of Justice land intended to also help with prisoners’ welfare.
Peatland restoration on military sites, as well as new stone dams, would restore natural habitats but also limit flooding and so allow more consistent training.Reynolds said the plan was “just one example of how the government is delivering better outcomes for nature and the environment for future generations”.An MP from 2010, Reynolds lost her seat in 2019 before returning to parliament in 2024 and she replaced Steve Reed as environment secretary in last September’s cabinet reshuffle.Keir Starmer’s government has faced criticism from some opponents, especially the Greens, for supposedly prioritising economic growth over the environment.Reynolds rejected this, saying policies such as the plans for the government estate, plus the reintroduction of species such as beavers and the golden eagle, showed a huge commitment to restoring nature.
“These are decisions that we are making, that I am making now, that will have an impact for generations and generations to come,So that’s really important,” she said,Reynolds contrasted this with what she said was a less wholehearted embrace of environmental issues by the Greens since Zack Polanski became leader, with an increased policy focus on areas such as economic inequality,“I would dispute the kind of priority they seem to be giving at a national level to environmental issues,” she said,“I also think they’ve got a terrible record in local government on these things.
”Reynolds pointed to objections from some local Green parties to solar farms, and pylons intended to carry electricity from offshore wind generation,“They are not prepared to take any of the sometimes difficult decisions that we need to take as a country to put in place green infrastructure,” she said,“I will not take lessons from a Green party that rarely talks about nature; that, frankly, is a party of protest,”Reynolds was even more scathing about the plans of Reform UK, saying she would be “very worried” about what a Nigel Farage-led government would do to the environment,Some of Reform’s plans would be deeply unpopular with the public, she said, citing its proposals to frack for onshore gas around the country.
The former Conservative minister Steve Baker was a keen advocate of fracking, saying he would welcome it in his Buckinghamshire constituency of Wycombe – which he lost to Reynolds in 2024.“Fracking is never very popular, as my predecessor in Wycombe found out,” she said.The government is likely to drop plans to stop imports of foie gras or furs, the former of which was a pre-election promise.While saying she could not comment on any specifics, Reynolds defended such compromises, saying the benefits of a revamped deal with the EU to remove much red tape on agriculture and food were very significant.“The prize is big,” she said.
“We can talk about the detail, but the overall prize here is to bring down the barriers at the border, and the friction and the cost and the administrative burden that the previous Tory government’s botched Brexit deal, has left us with,“We know that there are many small businesses that gave up exporting altogether to the European Union, and many big businesses just face terrible delays, or just uncertainty,”
Shipping firms question safety in strait of Hormuz despite Trump plan
The world’s shipping industry has questioned whether vessels will be able to travel safely to and from the Gulf after Donald Trump announced his latest plan to open the strait of Hormuz.Trump wrote on Monday that the US navy would “guide” stranded ships out of the waterway, writing on his social media site Truth Social that the operation, “Project Freedom”, would be a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran”.But within hours Iran’s Fars news agency reported a US warship intending to pass through the strait had been hit by two missiles and turned back after ignoring an Iranian warning. The US denied its ship had been hit. Brent crude rose about 2% to $110
UK food prices on track to rise by 50% since start of cost of living crisis
Food prices are on track to be 50% higher in November than at the start of the cost of living crisis in 2021, research suggests.Climate and energy shocks have driven an almost quadrupling of the pace of food price growth, according to research from the thinktank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), with costs rising in five years at about the same rate as they had over the previous two decades.Anna Taylor, the executive director of the Food Foundation charity, said: “Food prices rising this high and this fast leaves families on the lowest incomes with nowhere left to cut except the food on their plate. When that happens, people skip meals, children go hungry, and diet-related illness rises – taking parents out of work and piling pressure on an NHS that can least afford it.”The research suggests that the cost of living crisis, which many voters blame on political elites and big business, is likely to continue to be an important political issue during 2026
AI facial recognition oversight lagging far behind technology, watchdogs warn
Britain’s biometrics watchdogs have warned that national oversight of AI-powered face scanning to catch criminals is lagging far behind the technology’s rapid growth.With the Metropolitan police almost doubling the number of faces they scan in London over the past 12 months and a rising use of the technology by retailers in the UK, Prof William Webster, the biometrics commissioner for England and Wales, said the “slow pace of legislation was trying to catch up with the real world” and “the horse had gone before the cart”.Dr Brian Plastow, who holds the same role in Scotland, warned the technology was “nowhere near as effective as the police claim it is” and said there was a “patchwork legal framework” throughout the UK. He said in England and Wales, police were “really just marking their own homework”.The watchdogs said new laws were needed to govern when and how police forces used live facial recognition technology, with a new regulator to clamp down on misuse
Guilty until proven innocent: shoppers falsely identified by facial recognition system struggle to clear their names
When Ian Clayton, a retired health and safety professional from Chester, popped into Home Bargains one February lunchtime, he was suddenly approached by a stern-looking member of staff.“Excuse me, can you please put everything down and leave the shop now?” she said. Clayton recalled how he was stunned, and it was only as he was briskly walked past the tills towards the exit that he stopped to ask what he had done.“You’ve come up on our system called Facewatch as a shoplifter,” came the reply. “There’s a poster in the window
‘Get rid of the battery’: F1 under increasing pressure to make more changes to engine rules
Formula One is under increasing pressure to consider immediate changes and the long-term future of its new engines, with the world champion Lando Norris reiterating after the Miami Grand Prix that the only answer to address the sport-wide dissatisfaction was to “get rid of the battery”.At the race in Florida, which was won by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, with Norris second, F1 and the FIA had brought in fresh regulations to address unhappiness and safety concerns prompted by the pivotal role energy management plays under the new 2026 formula.There has been widespread criticism of the formula – which employs almost a 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and electrical energy. And while the adjustments to mitigate the issues which came in this weekend were considered successful, the long-term distaste remains, as Norris noted.“It’s a small step in the right direction but it’s not to the level that Formula One should still be at yet,” he said
John Sterling, beloved voice of Yankees for 36 seasons, dies at 87
John Sterling, whose voice became synonymous with the New York Yankees, has died at the age of 87.Sterling, a native New Yorker, started broadcasting Yankees games on radio in 1989 and continued until he retired in April 2024. During that span, he called 5,420 regular-season games and 211 in the postseason. He rarely missed a game and worked 5,060 consecutive games between 1989 and 2019. During one memorable game in 2023, he was hit by a foul ball during a broadcast and returned to work the next day
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