Ditching the UK’s green and social regulations in the bonfire of red tape that both Tory leadership candidates have promised would risk irreparable damage to the natural environment, to people’s health and workers’ rights, a group of 40 organisations has warned.
Health and safety in the workplace could also be threatened if current regulations are abandoned, according to the group. Both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, one of whom will be the next prime minister after a poll of Conservative party members, have indicated they would lead a deregulation drive in government.
The 40 organisations, which include the National Consumer Federation, the British Safety Council, RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts, have signed a letter to Truss and Sunak, asking them to keep vital regulations that they say are necessary safeguards for the public.
“This is real stuff affecting people’s everyday lives,” said Emma Rose, director of Unchecked, a coalition of organisations making the case for strong public protection. “Strong protections and rules are part of Britain’s success story. They are the invisible framework that keep our society running. They uphold high standards across public life, protect the vulnerable, underpin trust between businesses and consumers, and create a level playing field for businesses.”
Both candidates for prime minister plan to target EU rules, and have called for a deregulatory drive across government.
Sunak released a campaign video featuring the shredding of sheafs of EU documents, taken to be EU directives and other regulations.
As well as calling for the scrapping of remaining EU rules and deregulation broadly, Truss has spoken out specifically on requirements for nutrient neutrality – which says new housing should not be built without protections to ensure it does not cause further damage to areas already adversely affected by high nutrient levels from polluted water – which has caused environmental concerns.
Among the regulations thought to be in the spotlight are employee rights such as rest breaks, holiday pay and working time limits, all of which were targeted by the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, in his review of a potential post-Brexit bonfire of regulations.
Rose said regulations around water quality were of particular concern, as sewage pollution of the UK’s beaches and waterways has prompted widespread public outrage and revulsion in recent weeks. The water framework directive springs from EU rules that set minimum standards for water quality.
Food safety and farm animal welfare standards were also under threat from new trade deals, which were championed by Truss as trade secretary, Rose said. Protections for wildlife under the EU habitats regulation were in danger, and there were concerns over employee protections, she added.
Unchecked, which organised the letter, has conducted polling that has shown deregulation is not supported by voters, particularly those in “red wall” areas, which have switched to the Conservatives for the first time, and “blue wall” areas, the Tory heartlands under attack by the Liberal Democrats. Pro-Brexit voters were found as likely to be in favour of government regulation as those who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, Rose said.
“[We] call on you, as contenders to be the next prime minister, to make a personal commitment to maintain these high UK standards and commonsense protections, and ensure that local and national regulators have the capacity to enforce the rules,” wrote the 40 signatories, in a letter seen by the Guardian.
The letter does not specify which regulations deserve particular protection, but makes reference to “public health, environmental and food standards, animal welfare, worker and consumer safety”.
Green groups including Friends of the Earth, the Woodland Trust and Wildlife and Countryside Link have also signed the letter, alongside health campaigning groups such as Breast Cancer UK, the Cancer Prevention and Education Society and Mums for Lungs; trade unions including Unison and Wales TUC; and professional bodies such as the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.
Rose said: “We feel strongly that this [deregulatory] approach will move Britain in the wrong direction, undermining efforts to safeguard the environment, uphold employee rights and high standards in the workplace, and improve food and product safety and quality standards.”
Beccy Speight, the chief executive of the RSPB conservation charity, which was also a signatory to the letter, added that ensuring adequate enforcement of existing rules by government agencies was key. “Strong laws and properly supported agencies are vital to safeguard the precious wildlife we have left in the UK, and both need to be reinforced and not weakened,” she said.
