15 February 2017

Keith Taylor MEP: ‘The government has been exposed, yet again, as failing in its duty to take even the most basic action to combat an air pollution crisis that needlessly claims the lives of more than 50,000 people in Britain every year.’

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, has slammed the Government’s ‘repeated failures’ on air pollution as the European Commission issues a ‘final warning‘ to the UK over air quality breaches.

The European Commission has sent a “final warning” to the UK for failing to address repeated breaches of legal air pollution limits in 16 areas including London, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow.

The notice is being served just 24 hours after a new poll revealed 58% of Britons believe air pollution levels across the UK are damaging to their health while 65% support ClientEarth’s campaign for a new Clean Air Act.

Keith, a vocal air quality campaigner and a member of the European Parliament’s Environment committee, said:

“The government has been exposed, yet again, as failing in its duty to take even the most basic action to combat an air pollution crisis that needlessly claims the lives of more than 50,000 people in Britain every year. It’s no surprise that two-thirds of the public want the Prime Minister to do more to combat the toxic air they are forced to breathe.”

“The failure highlighted by the European Commission is as much moral as it is legal; Ministers have displayed an extremely concerning attitude of indifference towards their duty to safeguard the health of British citizens.”

“That the European Commission is having to hold to account this government for a public health crisis that costs the British public more than £20bn a year is a shameful indictment of the Conservatives’ irresponsible and deadly apathy.”

“Theresa May’s administration is failing to do the bare minimum, as required by EU laws the UK itself helped to set, to improve the quality of the air we all breathe. The bare minimum. Where embraced and enforced, EU air pollution limits are helping to prevent thousands of deaths every year and saving billions of pounds in direct health costs. This government readily acknowledges that it is EU law that has been the driver of positive air quality action in the UK. But the Prime Minister’s plans for an extreme Brexit puts those vital EU safeguards at risk.”

“The government must finally face up to its moral and legal responsibility for tackling Britain’s air quality crisis. Ministers must now be forced to make a firm commitment to abiding by and fully implementing EU air quality laws. Theresa May must also make a new Clean Air Act a means to maintain and strengthen these vital protections as Britain prepares to leave the EU.”

Keith is a co-signatory of a motion which will be presented at the Greens’ Spring Conference in Liverpool which calls on the Party to formally back ClientEarth’s Clean Air Act proposal.

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15 February 2017

Keith Taylor MEP: ‘CETA is a bad deal for the people of Britain, Europe, and even Canada, but a great deal for multinational corporations keen to escape the democratic oversight of national parliaments.’

Jean Lambert MEP: ‘To believe that CETA will bring more and better jobs to those who need them is pure wishful thinking.’

Molly Scott Cato MEP: ‘Conservatives in the European and UK Parliaments have been the biggest cheerleaders for CETA, and they are hoping the deal will still apply to Britain post-Brexit, and, most concerningly, the Minister for Trade, Liam Fox, has even put CETA forward as a model for future UK trade deals.’

Green MEPs are warning that Brexit will not free the UK from toxic trade deals as the European Parliament votes to green-light CETA, the controversial EU-Canada trade deal.
 
The deal, which has been long opposed by trade justice campaigners, trade unions, European Green Parties and millions of citizens in the EU and Canada, was voted through by a majority of MEPs during a plenary session in Strasbourg today.

Greens/EFA MEPs were among the only UK representatives to vote against the deal. Conservative and Lib Dem MEPs are expected to have voted to support CETA* with a number of Labour MEPs expected to have joined them* despite pressure from trade unions, the Shadow Minister for International Trade, and even the Party’s own Head of Trade Policy.
 
Opposition to CETA has focused primarily on the provision to allow multinational corporations to sue democratically elected governments in ‘extrajudicial’ and ‘secretive’ courts if they feel their financial interests are threatened by any policies enacted by those governments.
 
Greens have also argued that the trade deal will be bad for workers’ rights, climate action, animal welfare, and chemical and product safety.
 
Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East and a member of the European Parliament’s Environment committee, said:
 
“CETA is a bad deal for the people of Britain, Europe, and even Canada, but a great deal for multinational corporations keen to escape the democratic oversight of national parliaments. It is little wonder that it is citizens across Europe and in North America that are the loudest and more determined opponents of this toxic trade deal.”
 
“Canada has a long track record of taking legal action against European countries’ environmental laws and is fundamentally opposed to high chemical and pesticide safety legislation. Canada is also home to more than half of the world’s mining companies and pursues an active policy of exporting fuels derived from highly polluting tar sands. In that context, it is extremely worrying that CETA’s ‘commitments’ on environmental standards remain unenforceable. Greens will continue to oppose any agreements that lock us into fossil fuel dependence and damage our climate goals.”
 
Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London and a member of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs committee, said:
 
“To believe that CETA will bring more and better jobs to those who need them is pure wishful thinking. Research shows this proposed trade agreement is more likely to continue widening the gap between low and high-paid workers and offers no safeguards for existing labour standards. Many trade unions oppose CETA and so did the European Parliament’s Employment Committee, of which I’m a member. We need to invest in quality jobs, not widening the gaps.”
 
“There are many other problems too, which is why Green MEPs highlighted 12 Reasons to oppose CETA, and why we voted against it today in the European Parliament. It’s extremely regrettable that a majority of MEPs didn’t heed our concerns, and have instead today voted for CETA to go ahead. It’s now up to national parliaments across Europe to take action to block this damaging deal.”

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West and the Green Party’s Brexit Spokesperson, drew attention to divisions within Labour, an issue she highlighted in a News Statesman article today. She said
 
“With trade, as with Brexit, Labour are exposing how weak they are as an opposition. The Party is hopelessly split between backing the citizens of Europe and caving into corporate power.

“Their long-time Trade coordinator in the European Parliament, David Martin, has been a forceful supporter of CETA and has strenuously opposed the Greens for their opposition to the anti-democratic aspects of this treaty. No wonder their shadow trade minister can only persuade half his MPs to vote against this toxic deal.”

“The weakness of socialists across Europe to protect citizens against the worst aspects of corporate globalisation is driving people towards the forces of the Right, thereby fanning the flames of fascism.”

Conservative MEP Charles Tannock reiterated during the debate in Strasbourg that the UK Government sees CETA as a model for future UK trade deals. Molly continued:

“Conservatives in the European and UK Parliaments have been the biggest cheerleaders for CETA, and they are hoping the deal will still apply to Britain post-Brexit, and, most concerningly, the Minister for Trade, Liam Fox, has even put CETA forward as a model for future UK trade deals. It is clear that Brexit will not free Britain from toxic trade deals.”

Notes

* Roll call vote results are yet to be published.

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15 February 2017

* Employment may be up but almost 4 million [1] people have insecure jobs which barely make ends meet

The Green Party has said figures [1] which show employment is at the highest rate ever should not be allowed to mask the insecurity facing so many families in Britain today as wage growth slows.

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“These latest figures should not mask a job market built on sand. Wage growth has slowed just as the inflation rate hits its highest level in two years. Almost 4 million [2] people are still in insecure jobs which barely allow them to make ends meet. People need quality jobs they can build a life on.

“With the Government threatening to push Britain off the Brexit cliff-edge the endemic insecurity across the country risks getting much worse, as people’s livelihoods are sold down the river by a Prime Minister threatening to turn this country into an offshore tax haven.

“In this age of insecurity we should be thinking big about how we build an economy that works for everyone. That’s why the Government should follow the lead of countries like Finland which are investigating the merits of introducing a basic income, to stop people falling into poverty, while providing the choice, security and stability they need.”

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14 February 2017

Jean Lambert MEP: “While the European Parliament is moving forward on whistleblower safeguards, the UK appears determined to move backwards”

The European Parliament has today (Tuesday, 14 February) voted in favour of a report calling for the protection of whistleblowers across the EU.

At the same time, the Conservative government is desperately attempting to defending its proposals to launch a ‘full frontal attack‘ on whistleblowers in the UK.

Commenting after today’s vote, Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London and a member of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties committee, said:

“At a time when Theresa May is failing to convincingly defend her government’s proposals for a damaging and chilling attack on whistleblowers, the European Parliament has once again called for the EU to implement new protections for whistleblowers across the EU.”

“Green MEPs have long been pushing for EU-wide legislation that would protect whistleblowers in all areas of EU competence. This way, citizens across Europe will be able to speak up about environmental crimes, human rights violations, and other wrongdoing without fear of reprisal.”

“While the European Parliament is moving forward on whistleblower safeguards, the UK appears determined to move backwards; undermining freedom of the press and the fundamental principles of democracy along the way.”

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14 February 2017

Greens have reasserted demands for an Environmental Protection Act in the wake of a new House of Lords Select Committee report on the impact of Brexit on the environment and tackling climate change [1].

The report says the importance of the role of EU institutions in ensuring effective enforcement of environmental protection and standards ‘cannot be over-stated’ and warns the government that it faces ‘a considerable challenge in maintaining environmental legislation through the Great Repeal Bill [2].’ 

The report also raises concerns about the watering down of the UK’s international commitments on, for example, climate change. The committee calls on the government to clarify whether and how EU funding for environmental measures will be replaced by domestic funds post-Brexit.

The concerns and recommendations from the House of Lords committee echo the ‘cocktail of risks’ to the environment highlighted by Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, in a report she launched earlier this week [3]. In the report, she calls for a new ‘Environmental Protection Act’ to ensure that environmental protections will not be lost, watered-down, or ignored.

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, said:

“This report reaffirms what we have long suspected: the government is largely unprepared for and, worse still, uninterested in dealing with the peril Theresa May’s plan to pursue an extreme Brexit would leave Britain’s environment in. 

“Ministers confirmed just this week that since the EU referendum almost eight months ago, there has been no research into the environmental impacts of Brexit nor has there been any research commissioned to help develop environmental policy post-Brexit. Yet the Conservatives made a manifesto promise to be “the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it”. We must hold them to account and start work immediately on ensuring vital EU environmental protections are made legally binding and enforceable in the UK post-Brexit.”

Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London, said:

“It’s no accident that environmental standards and legislation are some of the most important features of the European Union. The impacts of climate change, pollution and resource depletion don’t stop at national borders. When it comes to the environment countries need to work together. But the UK Government’s go-it-alone Brexit mantra risks throwing away important environmental protections. If the Government truly wants to protect the UK’s environment it will act to enshrine EU environmental laws in an Environmental Protection Act for the UK.”

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, said:

“It is clear how much British environmentalists rely both on EU law and EU courts to prevent damage to our special places, wildlife, water and beaches. Outside the EU we need to strengthen our domestic protections which is why we need a specific law and a court to enforce it.”

Notes

[1] http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/eu-energy-environment-subcommittee/news-parliament-2015/brexit-env-cc-rpt/ 

[2] http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7793

[3] https://www.carolinelucas.com/sites/carolinelucas.com/files/Safe%20Guarding%20Environment%20after%20Brexit.pdf

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