Wednesday, 23 November 2022

England and Wales Give Up on the Environment?

The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is supposed to look after farming and ecology interests in England and Wales. That Department is now facing a further £500m in real term cuts, after the recent Autumn statement (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/22/defra-facing-500m-real-terms-cut-after-autumn-statement). To carry out its duties, DEFRA has to employ agricultural, disease, ecological, pollution and legal expertise. Competence doesn't come cheap especially, in an organisation already 'cut to the bone'. It's inevitable that pollution of rivers and sea will worsen. The spread of economically-devastating diseases, like bird 'flu, Bovine TB and Ash dieback, will intensify. The 'green and pleasant land' just became the 'wild West'! Monitoring will be perfunctory and polluters will hardly ever pay.
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