England: Conservatives will take the axe to cash for environmental protection

The biggest-ever assault on environmental protection in Britain will be carried out by the Conservatives if they win the general election.
Massive cuts will be made to the budgets and staff of Britain's main pollution and wildlife watchdog bodies, in a programme of which no mention at all is made in the Tory election manifesto.
The shadow Environment Secretary, Tim Yeo, is preparing to take the axe to the Environment Agency, which controls pollution from industry, and flood risk, and English Nature, which is responsible for protecting wildlife from increasing threats.
He has asked the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Sir Brian Bender, to have contingency plans drawn up so he can chop more than 1,500 staff and more than £60m in annual funding from the two bodies.