Unfinished business?   Kemi Badenoch’s #Conservatives would cut the #EnvironmentAgency - again.   Past cuts led to the #SewageScandal For example, its environmental protection budget was cut from £170m in 2009 to £76m in 2020. More on EA cuts + jobs lost in AltText #CPC26

Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:

Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations

Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.

channel4news.substack.com

Silly season in full swing at the #DailyMail.   Let’s dig this ill-judged headline and ill-informed article out when the nation’s scalped uplands and denuded landscapes fail to offer any protection from flooding.

Review of HS2 cost & time overruns to highlight politicians’ speed fixation. #HS2 has blown its budget 5 times over - £100 BILLION Vs the £19bn an original cost. Yet ministers & media prefer to blame bats and the modest £120 MILLION cost of so called ‘bat tunnel’. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

HS2 failings blamed on high-speed focus and political pressure

A new reviews confirms the high-speed rail line's

bbc.co.uk

There you go…

UK Together March, London, 28 March 2026 @togetheralliance.bsky.social #Together

No water firm boss in England was up for appear on #Channel4News to defend their #sewage spills. That is despite the 2025 spills being less than in 2024, mainly due to the lack of rain. Good news, no? Worth remembering the next time water companies talk up what they are doing.

Everything’s fine. Austrian glaciers disintegrating due to climate change, say scientists www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Austrian glaciers disintegrating due to climate change, say scientists

Scientists say nearly all of the significant glaciers in the Austrian Alps have shrunk.

bbc.co.uk

Hmmm, I will be looking at the detail of this new updated Environmental Improvement Plan #EIP to see if it’s fit for purpose. If it isn’t, we’ll… #EnvironmetalImprovementPlan two sider.

What are the true carbon emissions from extracted peatlands? We're going to be diving deeper into this question as we advocate for legislation to #EndPeatSales, protecting #nature and #climate A free read for your Friday 👇 https://peatfreepartnership.org.uk/peatland-carbon-are-the-sums-right/

Peatland carbon: are the sums right? - Peat Free Partnership

Understanding the true carbon emissions from peat extraction and peat degradation can be challenging. What does this mean for peatland protection?

peatfreepartnership.org.uk

We’re joining together to demand an end to peat sales once and for all. Add your voice to the nationwide call to #EndPeatSales once and for all, to level the playing field and protect our peatlands. actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sales #Gardening #Horticulture #Nature

“I was fined for pouring away a small splash of coffee, yet Co’s that release harmful chemicals into our rivers often face no consequences. If we’re serious about protecting the environment, responsibility has to start at the top” www.rsc.org/news/burcu-yesilyurt-coffee-polluter-pays-partnership

How’s #Labour doing on its environment claims? A view of the first year + a bit in power: Tues 4 Νov to #Bromley Friends of the Earth. #aviation #biodiversity #climate #energy #planning #housing #planningandinfrastructurebill #biodiversitynetgain #bng #rights #justice #transport #democracy

Rosebank's emissions revealed: Equinor and Ithaca Energy say nearly 250 million tonnes of emissions would be released from using oil products from the Rosebank oil field, if it starts operating. That compares with the UK's emissions of 371 million tonnes in 2024. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Controversial UK oil field reveals climate impact if approved

The impact from the Rosebank oil field is estimated at nearly 250 million tonnes of planet warming CO2.

bbc.co.uk

Nothing to do with us, guv! Intensive livestock firm denies it has a role in the decline of the supposedly ‘protected’ River Wye that’s seen pollution rise as intensive rearing units have proliferated. Largest UK environmental lawsuit over river pollution www.bbc.com/news/article...

River Wye pollution prompts UK's largest environmental lawsuit

Livestock and water companies are accused of “extensive” pollution in the Wye, Lugg and Usk rivers.

bbc.com

No surprise. Root cause is govt cuts to Environment Agency - and ministers directing it to go easy on polluters. That led to less monitoring of water pollution, and less responsiveness to reports of pollution - whether sewage or the other pollutants damaging our rivers. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Environment Agency failed to visit serious pollution incidents, leaked files show

Data from inside England's environment watchdog show an agency struggling to monitor serious pollution.

bbc.com

" #Defra should swiftly legislate to stop the digging up of horticultural #peat for #garden #compost..." New blog from Green Alliance calling for legislation on peat sales in #horticulture as part of Emma Reynold's to-do list: greenallianceblog.org.uk/2025/09/18/n...

New Defra secretary Emma Reynolds has a big ‘to do’ list but a chance to make some publicly popular moves

Emma Reynolds has become the tenth UK environment secretary in a decade, joining the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) at a critical time for environmental protection. She …

greenallianceblog.org.uk

The government is not only undermining its 2024 manifesto pledges to protect nature – it is sliding into Trumpian, post-truth politics. Me in The Big Issue www.bigissue.com/opinion/mini...

Blaming nature for the housing problem is straight from the Trump playbook

The government is not only undermining its 2024 manifesto pledges to protect nature – it is sliding into Trumpian, post-truth politics.

bigissue.com

The penny’s dropped - sewage is not - and never was - the only pollutant harming our rivers, freshwaters + coastal seas. Govt now needs to end austerity funding of Environment Agency + Natural Natural and assure their independence from more political meddling. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Ministers vow to tackle all forms of water pollution in England and Wales

Exclusive: Commitment comes as data shows serious pollution events involving water firms up by 60%

theguardian.com

Labour’s first year: the verdict of Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace: - Climate and Energy: Reasons to be cheerful - Nature and Environment: Cause for concern - Homes and Transport: Glimmers of hope, perhaps - Justice and Democracy: Poor friendsoftheearth.uk/system-chang...

The Labour government – our assessment 1 year on | Friends of the Earth

One year after the last general election, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace assess how the Labour government has performed on climate and nature action.

friendsoftheearth.uk

Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says “there is no safe level” of air pollution and that 99 per cent of the public in the UK are breathing “toxic air”. RCP reports the health costs - “30,000 deaths per year” - and the costs to the UK economy of £27-50 billion a year www.rcp.ac.uk/policy-and-c....

A breath of fresh air: responding to the health challenges of modern air pollution

rcp.ac.uk

Rachel Reeves fails to mention in her #SpendingReview (SR) speech the UK’s poor state of nature. That’s reflected in the modest (at best) SR funding for nature restoration, nature-friendly farmers. Spun as historic investment when it’s a 2.3% budget cut for Defra on top of 45% cuts 2010-19. Fail.

UK Govt says the cost to public purse of #Sizewell is £17.8 bn. I make it £24bn. The latest £14.2bn adds to £5.5bn given in Sept ’24 = £19.7bn Add £4.3bn given by the last govt: £1.3bn in Jan 24; £511m in Sept 23; £100m in Jan 22; £700m in Nov 22; £1.7bn in Oct 21. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...

Sizewell C nuclear plant gets go-ahead with £14.2bn of government funding

The government says the plant, which will take at least a decade to build, will deliver a

bbc.co.uk

The UK government is going ‘further and faster’ in allowing UK nature to be destroyed. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Integrity, always integrity. The ‘integrity’ buzzword abounds in UKgov’s new consultation on how Voluntary #Carbon & #Nature Markets #VCNM can be high integrity, transparent, trustworthy etc and not just another dodgy deal on the way to #climate chaos and nature’s demise www.gov.uk/government/n...

UK backs businesses to trade carbon credits and unlock finance

British businesses and organisations better supported to trade carbon credits as part of new work to establish the UK as the global hub for green finance.

gov.uk

‘Anthropocene Illusion' - Zed Nelson’s shot of a bored-looking chimp in Shanghai wins the Sony World Photo Award. Nelson explores humanity’s fractured relationship with nature, from safari parks to synthetic green spaces, and reveal a world where the wild is staged and the natural is anything but.

Defence Ministry: Shoreline defence force Gentoo’s prepare mortars. Our Navy Seals conduct clandestine training, and teach tactical camouflage and concealment to juveniles. We stand ready. Flippers Up.

Congratulations to our friends in Chattanooga, Tennessee which has been recognised as North America’s 1st National Park City. From the most polluted city in the USA in the 70s to an unrivalled outdoor destination and biodiversity hotspot. Full announcement buff.ly/Zpg0HRD

Me in The Telegraph: “We can only imagine how bad sewage pollution was before real-time monitoring… Water customers – who are about to be hit with even higher water bills – will wonder what happened to their money which should have been used to prevent pollution long before now”

Confirms what we knew. Biodiversity loss in all species and every ecosystem linked to humans – report www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Biodiversity loss in all species and every ecosystem linked to humans – report

Sweeping synthesis of 2,000 global studies leaves no doubt about scale of problem and role of humans, say experts

theguardian.com