Under the True & Fair Party’s policy proposals a new ‘ecocide law’ would mean major polluters could be jailed for up to 10 years, and/or face a fine of up to £3.85m. It is the first policy of its kind to be included in any British political party’s general election manifesto.

Similar regulation is already in place in France, and the European Parliament is in the process of ratifying an ecocide law, leaving the UK at risk of failing on yet another environmental imperative.

While some 85 percent of the UK’s environmental protections are derived from EU legislation,1 Miller warns that we have been veering off course since Brexit and are failing to establish new domestic protections.

A divergence in ambition in addressing the climate crisis has been confirmed by a recent analysis by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), with post-Brexit UK weakening its environmental rules on water treatment, air quality, and industrial emissions while the EU continues to make significant steps forward.

Following the Labour Party’s rollback on its £28 billion green pledge and the Government’s repeated pushback on environmental commitments, there is increasing concern around the UK’s “second rate” environmental policies.