Fears grow that PM Boris Johnson could ditch commitments on workers' rights and environmental standards this week

Back in October 2019, when seeking the support of MPs for his Withdrawal Bill, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a number of commitments on maintaining workers' rights and environmental standards.

But at a Downing Street briefing today, Number 10 spokespeople suggested that the Prime Minister is no longer committed to those pledges.

In addition, a promise that MPs would be given a vote on whether or not to extend the transition period at the end of 2020 to avoid a no-deal Brexit will also apparently be absent from the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which is due back in Parliament later this week.

Kath Dalmeny, chief executive of Sustain responded:

"As first government announcements go, this one is pretty chilling. The Conservative Party has promised to pursue 'the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth'. Yet the first thing they appear to have done, in a time of climate and nature emergency, is to row back on pledges to protect our precious environmental standards. Anyone who cares about climate change, wildlife and controlling pollution should listen carefully to the Queen's Speech on Thursday, which will set out exactly what the Government is pledging to do to protect our environment. We will be comparing this in detail with their party manifesto. We must ensure that the Government lives up to its election promises, which will profoundly affect all of our lives."

Read the full story in The Independent newspaper here