Liz Truss is facing a rural revolt against her plans to prioritize a “script for economic growth” over protecting nature and the environment.
Senior party figures, including ministers under Boris Johnson and former Tory leader William Hague, have joined the National Trust, the RSPB, the Angling Trust and the Wildlife Trusts in criticizing what they see as environmental vandalism .
It follows concerns that Truss is treating major nature charities as part of the so-called “anti-growth coalition” she claims to be standing up to.
As MPs return to parliament, Truss faces Conservative backlash on several fronts following a chaotic party conference. Senior MPs believe she is now a “parliamentary party prison”, unable to push through controversial policies on tax, welfare and immigration. The environment has become the latest flashpoint.
Former nature minister Rebecca Pow, who resigned over Partygate, spoke out against the attack on nature organisations. Former Environment Secretary George Eustice is said to be dismayed at the way the policies he championed are being dismantled.
Pow told the Observer: “Government needs to involve the full range of stakeholders in developing agricultural and environmental policies, including farmers and NGOs. They provide valuable evidence and are professionals who offer recovery from nature and food production on the ground.
“As Minister of the Environment, I regularly consulted them when developing the objectives of the Environment Act to improve and restore the environment. Likewise, their views were crucial in helping design ELM to achieve these goals and set us on a trajectory for healthy ecosystems and sustainable food production.”
Nature groups are working together to mobilize their millions of members against conservative policies. With Tory support collapsing in the polls, the prospect of rural Tories defecting in droves will further alarm Tory MPs when they return to Westminster this week.
The latest Opinium poll for the Observer, taken after the disastrous Tory conference in Birmingham last week, shows the biggest Labor lead ever recorded by the firm. Keir Starmer’s party has a 21-point lead, while Truss’ personal approval rating is the worst the company has recorded for a prime minister.
Truss used his conference speech to attack an “anti-growth coalition” that included the Green lobby.
Liz Truss campaigned in 2015 as environment secretary – environmental legislation could be slashed under her plans. Photograph: Graham M Lawrence/Alamy
Wildlife groups fear rare animals and plants could lose their protections when the promised ‘bonfire’ of EU bureaucracy happens later this year. Species are also at risk from government plans to establish new investment zones. Truss’s growth plan says environmental legislation could be reduced to facilitate development in these areas.
Although Number 10 has pledged to protect the environment, it has not made specific guarantees for areas of outstanding natural beauty, places of special scientific interest or national nature reserves. Nor has it been declared that rare animals will be protected from development in the investment zones.
Martin Salter, of the Angling Trust, said: “Given the government’s current problems, it is believed that they have chosen this time to fight with the public and groups concerned about protecting wildlife and the natural environment. The RSPB, Rivers Trust, National Trust, Wildlife Trusts between them represent over 10 million voters Add in a couple of million fishermen and many others who are horrified to see polluted rivers and green spaces destroyed forever and you have created a ‘coalition of concern “massive. Liz Truss would do well to listen again to the advice of former Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who has warned of the dangers of reneging on promises made to protect our rivers and natural environment.”
Liz Truss’ ‘growth, growth, growth’ speech interrupted by protesters: video
Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, said: “Restoring nature and creating a greener, healthier and more prosperous future must go hand in hand. Pitting the economy and the environment against each other is a retreat to the kind of outdated and failed ideological thinking that got us into this mess, not what we need to get us out of. The Conservative Party was elected to government on the promise of leaving the environment in a better state for next generation. He has no electoral mandate to do otherwise.”
Meanwhile, Hague recently wrote: “The idea that we can choose faster growth at the expense of our environment shows an inadequate understanding of these trends: that we are biological creatures who need a thriving ecosystem around us, not gods who can do without— ne if there is. we wish.
“Crucially, it also reveals a misunderstanding about the future of growth. The big prizes for growth over the coming decades will go to cities that can breathe, with the trees to help it and the wildlife to prove it.” The Truss government has also caused anger and confusion in rural Britain by deciding to review its post-Brexit Farm Payments Scheme, the Environmental Land Management Scheme.
It was about paying farmers to farm sustainably and also creating habitats for wildlife. The scheme took six years to create, with input from wildlife organizations and farmers. Many farmers signed up for pilot programs after changing the way they worked in order to receive funds.
While some in the agricultural industry complained about elements of the program, such as little reward for upland farmers, that the paperwork was difficult to fill out and that the government did not have details on how to be eligible for the elements futures, the rural world was preparing for change.
Many were shocked and angered to discover that the government plans to review six years of work in six weeks, without warning.
The Labor Party is now drawing up a list of rural and nature policies and is committed to defending nature organizations attacked by the government.
Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, said: “Instead of dismissing the views of experts, who represent the views of millions of people, the Conservatives should listen to the concerns of well-respected nature organizations on the impact of its planned bonfire on environmental regulations.
“Workers believe in protecting and improving our natural environment, not just because it’s the right thing for our planet, but because our nature and our coastal hotspots are a driver of jobs, economic growth and well-being in our great country”.
Commenting on the government’s attitude to nature, Sarah McMonagle, acting director of campaigns and policy at countryside charity CPRE, said: “Antagonizing people who care about nature and the countryside is completely counterproductive.
“Defra has engaged constructively with the environment sector for many years and it is important that this continues.”
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “The environment, agriculture and economic growth go hand in hand and we want to support our farmers to produce high quality food and improve our environment We are not scrapping our agricultural reforms, including environmental land management schemes. We are committed to halting the decline of nature by 2030 and not undermining our obligations to the environment in the pursuit of growth.”