Cut red tape hindering marine restoration to boost coastal towns
The group, which includes dozens of Tory MPs, called for regulation to be streamlined for projects such as the Solent Seascape Project, an initiative to restore saltmarsh, seagrass, oyster reefs, and seabird nesting sites between the Isle of Wight and mainland England.
Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins backed the report, calling it a 'valuable conservative contribution for consideration in our ongoing policy renewal programme'.
'Britain's once-buzzing seaside towns are facing growing economic and environmental pressures. The Conservatives are determined to set out a plan to protect our coastal communities and preserve them for future generations,' she said.
She added: 'Needless red tape continues to hamstring investment into marine restoration projects that could bring coastal communities jobs, nature-abundant habitats, and protection against the growing threats of climate change.'
The network is also calling on Labour to use the flood defences budget to fund more nature-based solutions and to designate more highly protected marine areas in English waters to protect against practices like bottom trawling, in which fishing gear is dragged across the seabed destroying habitats and scooping up a wide array of species.
They also want the Government to publish blue carbon codes – frameworks that define how carbon stored in marine habitats like seagrass and saltmarsh can be measured, verified and sold as credits – to unlock more funding for coastal resilience.
They say these moves will boost nature recovery as well as local economies through nature tourism and job creation as more projects could get off the ground.
Some 67% of English coastal towns are in the Office for National Statistics higher deprivation category and 3,500 properties are in areas at risk from coastal erosion.
Kitty Thompson, head of campaigns at CEN, said offering solutions for coastal communities could also help the Conservatives challenge Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
'The teal tide is not inevitable. Reform offers an easy outlet of anger for many coastal towns who have watched their neighbourhoods fade.
'But they won't give these communities the solutions they deserve. If the Conservatives offer a pragmatic, credible alternative that can deliver for coastal communities, then they can challenge Reform in coastal target seats, stopping them in their tracks,' she said.
Jacques Villemot, marine rewilding lead for Rewilding Britain, said the current marine licensing framework is outdated and called for the application process for projects to be streamlined.
'This framework urgently needs to be updated to support marine rewilding projects. Though necessary, in its current format marine licensing acts as a blocker, a laborious and costly process which was designed for approving developments like huge oil rigs and large wind farms,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
When can we make a true comparison between Conservative and Labour governments
In MetroTalk: Readers debate governments track records, the cost of medical aid and weight-loss drugs(Picture:) Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments. 'Brexit has shown that Europe and the EU were never the problem with the UK' says reader In response to Gary, we do not need to wait and see. All the things listed didn't happen in the (barely one year) since Labour has been in power versus the 14 years the Conservatives were at the helm. It's, therefore, wrong to think you can now lay it all at Keir Starmer's feet, whatever his shortcomings. And as for the worsening uncontrolled immigration situation? Well, you can lay that squarely on Brexit. Europe has no reason to want to aid the UK anymore on this issue – it was hard enough when we were part of the EU! So yes, it's worse now. But Starmer is doing the right things to hopefully ensure we can once again control immigration to this country. It will take time. If there's one good thing to say about Brexit it is that it has shown that Europe and the EU were never the problem with the UK. So let's please stop this wilful ignorance about why things are the way they are now in this country. Agatha, Surrey Does a lack of strikes equal a 'sleight of hand'? I'm not sure why Gary from Essex (MetroTalk, Wed) chooses to characterise hospitals now meeting appointments due to lack of strikes as a government 'sleight of hand'. Does he perhaps feel that the previous lot's abysmal performance was in fact the norm and that any improvement must be some kind of trick?Martin, London 'Labour havent 'given in', doctors have been underpaid despite doing God's work', reader defends Labour parties performance This reader defends the Labour party and NHS doctors (Picture: Jack Hill –) Gary is right in that we will have to wait five years for a true comparison between Labour and Conservative performances. But I would like to address some of the points he made. Unemployment going up has nothing to do with Labour and, with regards to small businesses closing at their highest rate in more than ten years, file that under Brexit – which was under the Conservatives' watch. Government borrowing? Well that's squarely down to the Tory black hole, and Brexit again. Got a question about UK politics? Send in yours and Metro's Senior Politics Reporter Craig Munro will answer it in an upcoming edition of our weekly politics newsletter. Email alrightgov@ or submit your question here. As for waiting list times, they have improved. And, as the partner of a doctor, Labour haven't 'given in'. Doctors have been underpaid in relative terms for ten or so years – despite the fact they're doing God's work. As to his final point regarding illegal immigration being up, that's down to Brexit, which was voted for by every district in Essex – and I'm assuming that includes Greg by the sounds of things. Greg, Highgate Reader comments on the cost on providing medical aid to children from Gaza Adrian Appleby (MetroTalk, Wed) is worrying about how the UK is going to be able to afford treatment for children wounded because of the war in Gaza (MetroTalk, Wed). He needn't fret so much, the profits we've made from the sale of the bombs and the bullets and the various aircraft parts will more than make up for the damage wrought upon their tiny bodies from the blasts that killed their families…P Guy, Liverpool 'the lost art of queuing at bus stops' Further to your letter about the lost art of queuing at bus stops (MetroTalk, Wed), I once worked with a very experienced TV presenter and she had a saying to describe certain people who were slightly pushy in personality as 'last at the bus stop, first on the bus'. I always to this day smile at bus stops as I think of those extremely wise words. Jan, London Bring back the queue! Reader knows how to crack a smile on public transport (Picture: Getty Images) 'Nothing is perfect', reader expresses support for the NHS I find the words 'shames the NHS' on the front page of Monday's Metro unfortunate. Of course what this patient experienced with a rat found in her drawers was very unpleasant, but 'shame' is too strong a word and smacks of over-generalisation. This happens all too often, be it about the NHS or other issues. We have found the NHS to be wonderful in dealing with my husband's ill-health, in particular over the last few months. The staff have treated him with nothing but kindness, professionalism and patience, all while under enormous pressure. They could even have been forgiven for any mistakes made – within reason of course. Nothing is perfect and the NHS should not be castigated in this way. Pat Horitz, Dorking Reader asks, 'why should my taxes pay for other peoples weight-loss drugs'? Why should my taxes pay for other people's weight-loss drugs and follow-up support on the NHS (Metro, Tue)? It's not an illness. It's over-eating, bad diet and lack of willpower to stop. I don't mind paying for treatment of illness, but not this. KT, Edin 'Start treating people the same and help everybody' says reader Are school uniform prices getting out of hand? (Picture: Getty Images) Once again the government are being called upon to help pay for school uniforms for people on benefits, with debt adviser Money Wellness looking for grants to be made available across the UK for low-income households. What about the couples who are working hard to provide for their family but don't come into the government's bracket when it comes to extortionate prices for school uniforms that have to be bought from specific outlets? This includes state schools, not only private. Come on, if you care, start treating people the same and help everybody. Den, Dartford Is there something wrong with our electoral system? Further to Rory O'Kelly's summations (MetroTalk, Wed), there must be something terribly wrong with our electoral system when a party can win an election with 3million fewer votes than it received when it lost the election some years earlier. Roger Smith, Witham How quickly can you solve our crossword? I just wanted to give you guys a pat on the back for publishing my letter today light-heartedly taking the rise out of your inadvertent double entendre headline about rat droppings found in a lady's drawers. We all slip up now and then, and you could so easily have ignored my letter but you saw the funny side and didn't mind bringing attention to your slip up. I am impressed! Incidentally, thank you for a really good, free paper which I enjoy every day, especially the quick crossword. This morning, I achieved a personal best, solving it within four minutes. My chest will be puffed out all day. William Buckley, Reading Arrow MORE: The Metro daily cartoon by Guy Venables Arrow MORE: Dr. Sam's Clarity Kit hailed 'the best skincare' by customers to treat acne breakouts Arrow MORE: We've found Molly-Mae Hague's exact chunky pearl earrings – and they're gorgeous
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Should former party leaders keep their noses out of politics?
The political phenomenon of the 'back-seat driver' is hardly new, but it's a bit of a thing at the moment. Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and Jeremy Corbyn have all been giving Keir Starmer private and public advice about taxation, welfare reform, the general conduct of government, and, in Corbyn's case, even about local authorities selling off allotments. It's meant to be helpful (maybe not in the case of Starmer's immediate predecessor), but it doesn't always work out that way... What's their problem? On the whole, and crudely speaking, they think that Starmer isn't really left-wing enough, which is ironic because they too (excepting Corbyn) were often criticised for just that in their own time. Most recently, Kinnock has backed a 'wealth tax' (never a prominent part of Labour policy during his own leadership), and wants to apply VAT to private healthcare charges (supposedly analogous to private school fees). Brown doesn't, but he does think child poverty is an under-regarded problem and that the winter fuel allowance, which he introduced, needs to be restored. Tony Blair has been pushing digital ID hard, just as he did when he was in No 10, when he never quite managed to make compulsory ID cards acceptable. More critically, Blair is supposed to have told Starmer that 'this isn't working' in a wider sense, and that net zero is 'doomed to fail' (a point he later rowed back on). Were he not already in Starmer's cabinet, Ed Miliband would also be outspoken about the downgrading of his Green New Deal. Are they right? Probably, but they do enjoy the luxury of observerdom, no longer living in fear of their own MPs, financial markets and, of course, Britain's devoutly cakeist electorate. They, and we, cannot assume they'd be doing a better job, notwithstanding their experience. Even so, if Starmer metaphorically says 'Well, you try it' – running the party, government, or both – they can reply, 'Well, we did, mate.' Why does this happen? They miss the attention? Former party leaders and prime ministers – deprived, usually forcibly, of their former power and status – are sometimes unable to resist the temptation to advise and warn their successors, not least when their own policies and record are under attack (whether real or imagined). Margaret Thatcher, conscious that such interventions can be unhelpful, actually promised after she left office in 1990 (and most unwillingly) to be a 'good back-seat driver'. John Major and, to a lesser degree, William Hague would beg to differ about what that meant. Thatcher more or less inflicted on them what Ted Heath, whom she ousted, visited on her during her premiership – constant barracking, grumbling and plotting. Harold Macmillan, who'd left No 10 even longer ago, also chose to criticise her harsh economic policies in the 1980s. Kinnock, in a backhanded way, said of Blair in 2007 that 'he's a bastard, but he's our bastard'. James Callaghan, who was in the merchant navy as a young man in the war, and was most restrained towards his heirs, said this of former leaders: 'Don't distract the man at the wheel, and don't spit on the deck.' Aside from one remark, and a subsequent indecorous row with John Prescott in the Commons tea room about nuclear disarmament, Callaghan followed his own advice. Why is there so much of this now? On the Conservative side, it is largely a function of the growing population of ex-leaders – nine in all (from Major to Rishi Sunak), of whom six served as prime minister. They've usually been the more bitter critics of one another, with the Liz Truss-Kemi Badenoch spats currently being the most entertaining, and serious, because the very word 'Truss' terrifies the voters, but attempts to slap her down make the Tories look divided. It's only fair to add that John Major, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Sunak are being remarkably restrained as Badenoch continually trashes their reputations. Labour has far fewer extant former prime ministers, and fewer former leaders. In addition, they tend to be more polite, and the most potent dissident among them, Corbyn, is now outside the family. The problem comes if they start to become the focus for rebellions, and make the Labour Party look even more divided than it actually is. None, however – not even Corbyn – can match Truss for high-profile delusion.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Tax gambling industry more to lift 500,000 children out of poverty, government urged
Around half a million children could be lifted out of poverty through reforms to UK gambling laws, a leading think tank has found. The Institute For Public Policy Research (IPPR) is urging the government to look at measures which could raise £3.2 billion from changes to how gambling is taxed. This would be the amount of funding needed to scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap, a new report from the group finds, which would lift 500,000 children out of poverty. Eliminating these two policies would be 'the most effective single step' the government could take to reduce child poverty, it adds. Backed by former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, the IPPR's proposals focus on raising duties on online gambling firms, especially online casinos, slot machines, and high-stakes betting. The think tank says harms are especially concentrated in this sector, with over 60 per cent of profits coming from just five per cent of users – many of whom are vulnerable. Henry Parkes, principal economist and head of quantitative research at IPPR, said: 'The gambling industry is highly profitable, yet is exempt from paying VAT and often pays no corporation tax, with many online firms based offshore. 'It is also inescapable that gambling causes serious harm, especially in its most high-stakes forms. Set against a context of stark and rising levels of child poverty, it only feels fair to ask this industry to contribute a little more.' The findings come as the chancellor is under pressure to raises taxes at Labour's upcoming autumn budget to address poor economic performance. The government is facing an 'impossible trilemma' caused by Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth, economists from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said on Wednesday. Its economists say the chancellor must look to raise £51.1 billion at her upcoming fiscal event, arguing that both tax rises and spending cuts will be necessary to deliver the funds. Treasury officials are reportedly already considering ways to raise taxes on the gambling sector, including simplifying the varying rates of duty applied to gambling products. Lobbyists for the gambling industry have begun pushing back on these proposals, reports The Guardian, with representatives understood to have already outlined their objections to the Treasury and have reached out to Labour MPs and staff. Lending his support the the IPPR's recommendations, Gordon Brown said: 'There are many reasons why the highly profitable betting and gaming industry should pay a fairer share towards the cost of UK's unmet needs. Most important is that it would enable half a million children to be lifted out of poverty in this autumn's budget, and so help to build our country for the next generation.'
