Yes, on green laws the UK “is falling behind the EU” (Brexit divergence from EU destroying UK’s vital environmental protections, 19 January). And, contrary to what the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is quoted as claiming in your article, our environmental standards have indeed depended on EU membership.
There was a period in our final decade of membership that the European Commission took the UK government, on environmental issues, before the European court of justice on 34 occasions, winning 30 of them. The remaining four were still in dispute. The UK government had to follow the ECJ decision or otherwise be subject to “infraction” – a financial penalty.
