The investigations both Guido Fawkes and Blasting News have conducted into the funds organisations like WWF and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) receive, have revealed they have a substantial interest in Britain remaining in the EU to promote European-wide environmental regulations.
The Guardian produced an article the day after the UK voted to leave the EU claiming Brexit will impact laws this country is signed up to in Brussels. For example, the British Government could scrap pollution limits on power stations after March 2019, the date it formally leaves the trading bloc.
They quoted the National Farmers' Union, which received 133,842 euros from the EU prior to last year's referendum, who claimed this will lead to a ban on pesticides for bees being uplifted.
The Guardian's premonitions failed to come true
The Guardian's premonitions have failed to come true. The Great Repeal Bill will put into British law aspects of EU law it wishes to preserve, and it is unlikely any party will scrap legislation designed to destroy the environment, especially with 75 per cent of 18-25-year-olds regarding it as a priority.
Since being appointed Environment Secretary, Michael Gove has introduced radical new laws designed to protect the environment. He has enforced measures to prevent Britain from contributing towards sea pollution, forced farms to have CCTV cameras to monitor the way farmers treat animals prior to killing them for meat and strengthened prosecutions for those guilty of animal cruelty.
Brexit is an opportunity for the UK to strengthen environmental regulations, not weaken them.
Last year, former environment secretary Owen Paterson wrote an article for ConservativeHome outlining why leaving the EU would improve our environment. Brussels imposed the Berne Convention on the UK, which is meant to provide nations with the freedom to protect "at risk" species.
This has failed to be adapted to different countries' needs and has almost collapsed. It imposes regulations on development sites that protect endangered newts. Newts are in scarce supply in Europe, but in Britain, their population numbers are growing. Because of these EU regulations, the Government cannot build houses so desperately needed for younger people.
Newt fences can damage nesting birds at nesting times. Leaving the EU would allow for a more flexible policy instead of being determined by Brussels.
It's time to stop pretending this country needs Brussels to protect its environment
There are many opportunities for the environment post-Brexit, including leaving the hated Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies, creating genetically modified crops, which the EU has banned and puts Africa at a disadvantage. It's time to stop pretending this country needs Brussels to guard its environment. The trading bloc has failed the UK's countryside for decades.
