Michael Gove’s bid to use post-Brexit freedoms to water down environmental protections for new home developments have been blocked by the House of Lords.
The levelling-up secretary tried to scrap protections to water supplies introduced by the European Union in 2017 that exist to stop pollutants like phosphates and nitrates from leaking into local water supplies.
These chemicals, while natural, can significantly harm water quality, endanger wildlife, and lead to overgrowth of algae.
Environmentalists expressed concern that without having protections in place wastewater and sewage from new homes and construction site runoff are likely to harm local water ecosystems, leading to their degradation at a time when they are already under significant pressure.
Katie-Jo Luxton from the RSPB says the moves could lead to “total ecological collapse” in some areas.
But the moves have been blocked by peers in what has been described by shadow levelling up secretary Angela Rayner as a “humiliating” defeat.
She said the “flawed plan” was just an attempt to “score cheap political points”, adding:
“We stand ready to sit down with the government, housebuilders and environmental groups to agree on a workable solution to build the homes we need.
“If they refuse this opportunity, ministers have only themselves to blame.”
The Liberal Democrats’ Lords spokesperson, Baroness Pinnock, called the vote “a great victory”, adding: “The Conservatives have continually promised not to roll back our environment rules, it is deeply shocking that they can’t be trusted to keep their word.”
Related: Tory MP Tobias Ellwood resigns as Commons Defence Committee chair
