Brexit 10 years on: Is the UK still the dirty man of Europe?

In the book, The Dirty Man of Europe, it was said that without pressure from Europe, it was difficult to see how the UK would have made any environmental progress in the 80s and 90s. Many in the environment sector feared that the UK’s vote to leave the EU in 2016 would herald a return to its position as the ‘Dirty Man of Europe’.

We’re now a  decade on from the Brexit vote, which saw then prime minister David Cameron resign swiftly, followed over the years by four other Conservative prime ministers.

In the last week, Labour prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that he too will be standing down following two years at the helm that saw a rise in anti-nature rhetoric, and a rise in support for right-wing politics in the form of Reform UK. 

Across the Channel, the EU too is witnessing its own surge in right-wing politics with key environmental policies now being unpicked. 

So is the UK still the dirty man of Europe ten years on? 

On this week’s podcast, ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons is joined by ENDS Europe’s deputy editor Simon Pickstone and two special guests: 

• Ben Reynolds, the director of the Institute for European Environmental Policy UK.
• And Dr Viviane Gravey, an environmental policy specialist from Queen's University Belfast.

PLUS 

• Sir Keir Starmer stands down as prime minister
• Andy Burnham’s by-election win in Makerfield sets him on course for the keys to No.10
• And MPs are demanding full access to the government’s national security biodiversity report.

The ECO Chamber is brought to you by journalists at ENDS Report.

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