Tories take aim at EU-era water law

BLOOMBERG

Rishi Sunak is considering scrapping an environmental law dating back to UK membership of the European Union (EU), as his government faces pressure to build more houses while fending off a voter backlash on pollution.
The prime minister’s team is looking at using his flagship regeneration bill to override a 2018 ruling that effectively bans housebuilding in areas where it risks polluting rivers and waterways, people familiar with the matter said. The proposed move comes after the Home Builders Federation (HBF) lobby group blamed the “nutrient neutrality” rule for preventing construction of 120,000 homes.
Britain’s housing shortage is a contentious political issue ahead of a general election expected in 2024, with the Conservatives under fire after backing away from a manifesto pledge to build 300,000 homes a year.
Many Tory MPs in more affluent areas object to building in their districts, after seeing the previously safe seat of Chesham and Amersham flip to the Liberal Democrats in a special election in 2021. Sunak’s party faces by-elections in three seats this month after sitting Tory MPs resigned.
Still, their squeamishness on housebuilding has left the Conservatives vulnerable to the poll-leading Labour Party’s promise to boost supply.
Labour leader Keir Starmer spent the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions trying to capitalise, telling Sunak in one heated exchange: “The ambitions of families across the country have been crushed by his failing Tory government.”
But if Sunak waters down environmental laws to try to reclaim the housing narrative, he risks drawing attention to the Tories’ poor record on pollution, which cost them votes in May’s local elections as #TorySewageParty and other hashtags trended on Twitter.