Tory environment select committee chair told to quit over ties to lobby group

Sir Robert Goodwill said there is no issue with him chariing both the select committee and the rightwing campaign group. Photograph: Richard Townshend/Richard Townshend Photography

The Conservative chair of the environment select committee has been urged to resign as the Guardian revealed he is also chair of a group endorsing nature policies described by critics as “destructive and dangerous”.

Sir Robert Goodwill, who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee (Efra), is tasked with holding the environment secretary to account on nature and environmental targets. He became chair of the committee after his predecessor, Neil Parish, resigned after a pornography scandal.