Ministers ‘break word’ on protecting nature after weakening biodiversity planning rule
The government has broken its promise to protect nature by weakening planning rules for housing developers, groups have said.While developers once had to create “biodiversity net gain” (BNG), meaning creating 10% more space for nature on site than there was before the building took place, the housing minister Matthew Pennycook announced exemptions to this rule on Tuesday.Under the new rules developments under 0.2 hectares are exempted from the policy.Analysis from the Wildlife Trusts has found that this means a combined area across England the size of Windsor forest will now not be restored for nature.
The move is part of a bigger package to help the government meet its target to build 1.5m homes by the end of this parliament.This includes a default “yes” to suitable homes being built around rail stations, and a possible exemption from the building safety levy for small and medium-sized housebuilders.Wildlife Trusts CEO, Craig Bennett, accused the housing secretary, Steve Reed, of breaking a promise to him.He said: “In January of this year when he was environment secretary, Steve Reed made a solemn promise that the government was ‘committed to biodiversity net gain’.
Now, as housing secretary, he has broken his word.”Nature groups have also complained the rule change puts private investment in nature at risk.Private firms have already generated £320m into habitat restoration since the BNG rules were put into place in February 2024.Beccy Speight, the chief executive of the RSPB, said: “The decision to exempt sites under 0.2 hectares from BNG flies in the face of the UK government’s promise to be ‘the most nature-positive government this nation has ever had’.
It’s a blow for nature, for local communities and for business confidence in the future of BNG,”Wildlife and Countryside Link has warned that exempting so many small sites could still “wreck the policy altogether”, particularly when small developments dominate England’s planning system,About 95% of planning applications are for sites under 1 hectare, 88% under 0,5 hectares, and 77% under 0,2 hectares.
Reed said: “Right now we see a planning system that still isn’t working well enough.A system saying ‘no’ more often than it says ‘yes’ and that favours obstructing instead of building.“It has real-world consequences for those aspiring to own a home of their own and those hoping to escape so-called temporary accommodation – we owe it to the people of this country to do everything within our power to build the homes they deserve.”The plans could reduce the need for brownfield sites to deliver BNG.Pennycook announced the government would consult on how to ensure the system supports brownfield-first development, while making it easier and cheaper to deliver biodiverse habitats offsite through simplified rules.
The government is currently consulting on whether, and how, nationally significant infrastructure projects such as airports, roads and waste incineration plants, should achieve biodiversity net gain,Nature campaigners have said ministers should hold these projects to a high standard in order to prevent mass habitat destruction,Richard Benwell, the CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “To meet its electoral promise of halting wildlife decline, government should strengthen green economy rules, not shrink them,Rapidly applying net gain to all major infrastructure and stopping developers dodging their environmental responsibilities should be clear priorities, not more carveouts,“So far, this has been a parliament of delay and relentless deregulatory threats to nature.
The public outcry in support of net gain must be a last-chance wake-up call that environmental promises weren’t a ballot box bonus.Restoring nature and stopping pollution are a key test of the government’s credibility and it’s time for action.”
Penitent Tice tussles with The Unbearable Lightness of His Being | John Crace
Call it a Christmas miracle. For this was the day when Richard Tice sent in his application to become a fully paid-up member of Woke. The day the Reform deputy leader tried to break free from his role as the perennial sidekick. An insignificant blot on the Nigel Farage landscape. When he tried to show he was able to think his own thoughts
How far must UK go to fend off threat of foreign interference in its elections?
Russia has been attempting to meddle with western democracy for years, but successive governments led by Boris Johnson and others have insisted that the UK’s electoral system can withstand its influence.That argument was recently blown apart by the conviction of former Reform politician Nathan Gill, jailed for 10 years for accepting bribes to advance Russian arguments.And now Steve Reed, the cabinet minister responsible for elections, has admitted there are worries that the UK’s “firewall” against foreign interference may not be strong enough as he ordered an independent review.The decision is clearly partly motivated by the chance to score political points against Reform UK over its links to the Russian bribe case. And yet there is no doubting the reality of the threat, even if it has until recently been ignored
Richard Tice refuses to condemn Reform mayoral candidate’s comments about David Lammy
Reform UK’s deputy leader has refused to condemn a mayoral candidate for the party who said David Lammy should “go home to the Caribbean”.Richard Tice said it was the role of the party to “challenge” the justice secretary. Answering questions after a press conference, he also refused to say whether he still thought the 25-plus former school contemporaries of Nigel Farage who have accused the Reform leader of racism and other offensive behaviour were making up their claims, calling it “old news”.Reform has repeatedly declined to condemn comments on X by Chris Parry, a retired naval rear admiral who has been picked to contest the now-postponed Hampshire and the Solent mayoral election for the party.In a post in February, referring to a news story about the UK government supposedly considering talks about reparations for slavery – which ministers have in fact rejected – Parry is said to have written: “Lammy must go home to the Caribbean where his loyalty lies
Starmer’s communications chief to address cabinet on media strategy overhaul
Keir Starmer’s Whitehall communications chief will address the cabinet on overhauling the government’s media strategy on Tuesday as ministers increasingly try to combat far-right rhetoric online.David Dinsmore, a former editor of the Sun who was appointed permanent secretary for government communications in November, will speak to ministers about modernising the way they reach voters.The government is concerned about the proliferation of false and inflammatory far-right content on social media and is stepping up efforts to communicate on those platforms.A New Media Unit (NMU) was set up inside the Cabinet Office by Starmer’s aides soon after Labour came to power to coordinate those efforts.The work is led on the ministerial side by Darren Jones, who was tasked by Starmer on his appointment as chief secretary to the prime minister in September to develop and modernise the government’s communications
US puts £31bn tech ‘prosperity deal’ with Britain on ice
The US has paused its promised multi-billion-pound investment into British tech over trade disagreements, marking a serious setback in US-UK relations.The £31bn “tech prosperity deal”, hailed by Keir Starmer as “a generational stepchange in our relationship with the US” when it was announced during Donald Trump’s state visit, has been put on ice by Washington.As part of the deal, US tech companies pledged to spend billions in the UK, including a £22bn investment from Microsoft and £5bn from Google. But Washington has paused the implementation of the agreement, citing a lack of progress from the UK in lowering trade barriers in other areas.British officials sought to downplay the development, which was first reported by the New York Times
With Starmer’s enemies short on options, Labour MPs have to make do with gossip
In the corner of one of Westminster’s endless Christmas receptions, a Conservative veteran of the Brexit years admits they are somewhat baffled by the frenzied leadership speculation among the new Labour ranks.It was easy to forget, they said, given how many Tory leaders the party cycled through – but prime ministers were not that easy to dislodge.Theresa May’s predicament is a useful point of comparison. She lost a majority, lost multiple Commons votes on her flagship policy, lost dozens of ministers and cabinet ministers, had members of her own party selling “chuck Chequers” badges at her party conference, and narrowly survived a confidence vote before she was finally ousted. Yes, the Labour leader is polling at historic lows – but things can get a lot worse
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