Men At Work

The UK government has always been quick to trumpet its 'green credentials'. Its aspiration for carbon zero! Its intention to improve biodiversity! It was much more muted about its move to reduce the legal protections on many animal species, to facilitate the actions of house and road builders (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/02/red-squirrels-and-pine-martens-could-lose-protection-in-uk-review-say-experts). Experts think that animals, like Mountain hares; newts; Pine Martens; Red squirrels; Slowworms; Vipers; Viviparous lizards and Water voles, will all lose protections in areas. They may not be deemed to be 'rare or underthreat' enough. The move should come as little surprise. We already know how keen the PM is to don a hi-vis jacket and a safety helmet. And didn't he say something rather unkind about newts some years back?