Government Attacks Nature

Viviane Doussy
, 19 May 2022
Government Attacks Nature

The Government introduced new legislation in Sep 2022 via the 'Retained EU Law' Bill.  This is ill thought-through, not fit for purpose and should be scrapped.  


The threat to wildlife and habitats is wide-ranging and this has moved our SWT Regional Group into action. We wrote to the Parliamentary Scrutiny Committee ahead of its 2nd reading in the House of Commons at the end of 2022.  Our group also wrote to our MP, Andrew Griffith.  We got a response but we weren't happy with our MP seeing only positive benefits to people and businesses in the REUL Bill, so took it further and sent our MP another letter in March 2023. 

Letter to Andrew Griffith REUL & Planning Bill (19Nov2022)

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill Group Letter Submitted

Andrew Griffith MP response (07Feb2023)

Letter to Andrew Griffith REUL Bill (04Mar2023) FINAL


This new REUL (Revocation and Reform) Bill poses a significant risk in both its Revocation and its Reform proposals.  It is a massive #AttackOnNature. 

  • it sets an automatic end to all the EU protection by 31 Dec 2023 unless any specifics are deliberately saved. With >500 pieces of environmental legislation to be reviewed, it is an impossible task to properly re-write these into UK law within the timeline.
  • it significantly reforms and weakens Parliamentary scrutiny and gives Ministers unprecedented powers.

The Wildlife Trusts had a good online debate on these aspects, so do watch this recording.

 It's taken around 50 years (with Britain centre-stage to influence the EU) to build up a mass of laws and regulation that protect species, habitats and the environment as a whole. Post-Brexit, the 'Retained EU Law' held onto these vital protections. 

Continued pressure from YOU, the public is needed. Please take further action for nature. Fill out your SWT postcard to urgently plea that the Prime Minister keep nature on the agenda, write to your MP (again if needed!), and participate in the discussion to let as many people know as possible. Read more here: defend-nature

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782948197.85230 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782948197.90060.0483Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782948197.90080.0002Server address: 216.73.217.103
1782948197.90090.0001Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782948197.90090Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/government-attacks-nature
    [s] => government-attacks-nature
    [1] => government-attacks-nature
)
1782948197.90140.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782948197.90250.0011 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782948197.90440.0019 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782948197.90490.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782948197.90670.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22500623
1782948197.90740.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22500623
1782948197.90790.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-01 23:23:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-01 23:23:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782948197.90920.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='government-attacks-nature')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 23:23:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782948197.91110.0019 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782948197.91160.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2958 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 23:23:00'
1782948197.91240.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782948197.91320.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782948197.9140.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=245 LIMIT 1
1782948197.91460.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=226 LIMIT 1
1782948197.91520.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782948197.91560.0004 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782948197.91640.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 23:23:00' AND postSlug='government-attacks-nature'
1782948197.93650.0201Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782948197.93740.0009 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782948197.9390.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782948197.93940.0004 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782948197.94010.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782948197.94150.0013 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782948197.94440.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782948197.9450.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782948197.94680.0019Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782948197.94690 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782948197.94780.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782948197.94820.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782948197.95070.0025 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782948197.95160.0009 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782948197.95230.0006 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782948197.95510.0029 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782948197.95590.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782948197.95780.0019 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782948197.95840.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782948197.95860.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='25' LIMIT 1
1782948197.95940.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782948197.95990.0005 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='government-attacks-nature')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 23:23:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782948197.96170.0018 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782948197.96210.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782948197.96540.0033Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782948197.96660.0012 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2958 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782948198.0280.0614 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782948198.02820.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782948198.02840.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='25' LIMIT 1
1782948198.02930.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782948198.03010.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782948198.03060.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782948198.03290.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782948198.03430.0014 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782948198.03770.0034 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782948198.0390.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782948198.03970.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782948198.04010.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782948198.04370.0036 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782948198.04790.0041 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782948198.05360.0057 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782948198.05720.0036 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782948198.0580.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782948198.05860.0006 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782948198.06080.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782948198.06130.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782948198.06320.002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782948198.06610.0029 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782948198.06680.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782948198.06730.0006 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782948198.06930.0019 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782948198.06970.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782948198.07140.0017 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782948198.07280.0013Request time: 0.2291
1782948198.07280Process time: 0.2271
1782948198.07280Memory: 1.6294