Labour’s great nature sellout is the worst attack on England’s ecosystems I’ve seen in my lifetime | George Monbiot

The planning and infrastructure bill is the worst assault on England ’s ecosystems in living memory.

It erases decades of environmental protections, including legislation we inherited from the EU .

Developers will be allowed to trash whatever habitats woods, meadows, wetlands, streams stand in their way.

The case that he and the billionaire press cite repeatedly is HS2’s 100 m tunnel to protect bats.

But had ecologists been brought in at the beginning of the planning process, they would have advised avoiding the ancient woodland the railway bisects.

A combination of a lack of foresight and the dire undercapacity of local authorities and government regulators, caused by austerity, are the main impediments to development, not ecological surveys and consultation.