Watchdog launches investigation into Defra over approval of bee-killing pesticide under Tories

Neonicotinoid pesticide was given emergency authorisation under previous government in 2023 and 2024

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is being investigated by the environmental watchdog after Conservative ministers authorised a bee-killing pesticide that was banned by the EU.

The investigation into Defra was launched after the campaign group ClientEarth submitted a complaint to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), which was set up after Brexit to replace the EU’s framework for punishing environmental offences by governments in the bloc. On Monday the OEP announced it would be investigating the emergency authorisation of a neonicotinoid pesticide in 2023 and 2024.