This week Emma attended a joint event in parliament organised by campaign groups 38 degrees and Friends of the Earth to lobby the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Liz Truss to support a ban on all neonicotinoid pesticides which are known to kill bees.
There has been a severe decline in the diversity of wild bees in the countryside with England seeing the worst decline in Europe with the UK losing 20 species of bees with a further 35 bee species considered to be under threat from extension.
We need bees as they pollinate most of our food crops and wild flowers and they play a crucial role in supporting wider diversity.
In response to concerns raised by many of her constituents, Emma wrote recently to the Minister of State at Defra, George Eustice MP about this matter.
In his response Mr Eustice MP said, that protecting the health of bees and other pollinators was a priority for Defra and that the National Pollinator Strategy helps to monitor the status of pollinators and identify actions that can be taken to protect populations. In addition, the Minister wrote that the UK has implemented the European Commission’s restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in full.
But, the Government has agreed to temporarily suspend the EU’s ban on two neonicotinoid pesticides after pressure from the National Farmers Union. The Government has said this is an evidence-based decision, but remarkably they have refused to publish the evidence presented by the NFU, citing commercial confidentiality and have kept the minutes of the meeting where the matter was discussed private.
The Government still has not clarified what their current assessment of the latest evidence is and whether they consider it sufficient to support the EU ban. Since the ban, more scientific evidence has appeared highlighting the risk to bees. Examples include a link between the use of neonics and the decline of UK butterfly species, an impact on the pollination that bees provide and emerging evidence that neonics could also affect the soil in which seeds are planted and the wild flowers that grow in it.
Whilst the Government rejected two earlier applications that would have covered 79% of the crop area, they did accepted the application only for a smaller area, but concerns remain about the potential impact of neonics on the bee population in that and surrounding areas.
A recent report published late in April, concluded that two of the world’s most widely used insecticides cause significant harm to bumblebee colonies, whilst a third had no effect. The research found that both imidacloprid (made by Bayer) and thiamethoxam (made by Syngenta) at realistic levels of exposure harmed the bumblebee colonies. For example, imidacloprid cut the number of brood cells, which contain eggs, by 46%, while thiamethoxam reduced the number of live bees by 38%. But clothianidin (Bayer) had no effect other than increasing the number of queens produced.
Emma said:
“I was disappointed that the Minister gave no real assurances that the Government would support the ban or commit to studying evidence provided by experts.
One thing is absolutely clear: we cannot allow the number of bees in our country to keep falling, already we have seen two species of bees become extinct on our shores and sadly, several other bumblebee species are in trouble, and could become extinct in the UK within a short time. Two species in particular, the Great yellow bumblebee and the Shrill carder bee, are now only present in small numbers.
I fully support 38 degrees and Friends of the Earth on this matter and will do all I can to assist them in putting pressure on the Government to Recommit to action for bees by publishing a stronger National Pollinator Strategy, Support a permanent ban on all neonicoitinoid pesticides and step up research, development and advice on non-chemical alternatives.”
Support Friends of the Earth and sign 38 degrees petition here:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/ban-the-pesticides-that-are-harming-our-bees
https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/766
https://www.foe.co.uk/page/bee-cause