Minister Refuses To Deny Environment Legislation Cuts

Caroline Spellman has accused the all-party committee on the environment of creating a story out of nothing, when questioned about cuts to legislation regarding the environment.

Select Committee chairperson Joan Walley told the environment secretary, Oliver Letwin was quoted in the media as saying that he wished to cut the legislation from 1,000 pages to 50, but despite being asked repeatedly, she refused to make any comment other than to denigrate the concern of the Select Committee in a most patronising way.

She claimed that the Red Tape Challenge was totally separate from any environmental audit, but conceded that any reduction in legislation could only be a good thing if it removed the burden on business and improved the legislation concerned.

Further, she would not deny that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has met policy minister Oliver Letwin, who last year cut the regulation guidance for planning regulation with similar severity.

In what was a very terse, and often patronising response, she repeatedly refused to discuss what she called ‘hypothetical situations’.

Video recording of the section of the Select Committee’s business with Caroline Spellman can be viewed here

Source: The Guardian

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