On Tuesday, the Environment Bill returned to the House of Commons to give MPs from all parties a chance to reconsider key aspects of the Bill and discuss the proposed amendments. Barry spoke at both stages of the debate, firstly on Environmental Governance and secondly on the Bill’s provisions for reducing the UK’s waste. Both contributions are available to watch below.
In the first stage of the debate, Barry spoke in favour of the Labour frontbench Amendment to remove the Secretary of State’s ability to interfere in the procedures of the new Environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection. This Amendment is key to ensure the Government cannot issue guidance to the regulator and attempt to influence which regulatory actions it pursues, so as to ensure consistency with other non-departmental public bodies such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Barry also used the first debate to draw attention to the need for binding Interim environmental targets so that the regulator could hold relevant actors accountable. He also urged colleagues across the House to speak out against the lifting of the ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, which had been outlawed under EU membership due to their harmful effects on bees and other pollinators.
Barry used the second stage of the debate to draw attention to waste issues, specifically e-waste, of which the UK is the second highest producer in the world. He spoke in favour of a New Clause which would ensure the Government implement the Waste Hierarchy principle, with a specific focus on preventing unnecessarily high levels of waste being produced in the first place. Barry also spoke out on the need for legal limits of air pollution enshrined in the Bill and for the Government to report to Parliament on an annual basis on efforts to reduce air pollution levels.