Govt forest sale U-turn
Ministers are to scrap plans to sell off Forestry Commision land, it has been announced.
Writing exclusively for PoliticsHome, shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh urged ministers to drop the plans which had previously been postponed after public protest.
She insisted that "instead of another fire sale, Defra Ministers should set out how they will protect biodiversity".
Independent advisers appointed by the Government also published a report into the planned sell-off today, and urged the Government to reverse their decision and instead expand publicly owned land.
Writing for Central Lobby, Conservative MP Neil Parish also backed scrapping the plans. The Woodland Trust has said it also "
fully supports the continued existence of the public forest estate".