Government to dilute water monitoring standards

UK Government sources have confirmed that the UK will diverge from EU standards for monitoring water quality in England.

In May, the UK Trade and Business Commission published 114 recommendations to boost the UK economy. One of the key recommendations was ‘maintaining regulatory alignment with the EU where beneficial; outside of the Single Market and Customs Union, achieved through a new ‘UK-EU Regulatory Cooperation Council’.

Paul Blomfield MP, Co-convenor of the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission said,

“After using post-Brexit freedoms to pump sewage into our rivers and onto our coastline, the Government now wants us to believe that an even greater dilution of our water monitoring rules is something to welcome.

“Brexit does not need to be a race to the bottom.  We can and should align with the EU where beneficial, and I think most people, who don’t profit from pollution, see clean water as a benefit.”