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Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England

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Cite

editor, J. E. D. p. (2026, October 4). Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/04/tories-scrap-environment-agency-natural-england-conservative-conference

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-04 · by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor

Quick Summary

The Conservative Party plans to announce at their conference that they will abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency as part of a broader initiative to streamline regulations and reduce costs for developers. This includes scrapping rules requiring affordable homes and community services like GP surgeries from new developments, aiming to speed up infrastructure and housebuilding projects. The party leader, Kemi Badenoch, released a document called "The Right Way" emphasizing the need for economic focus ahead of the next election, where polls currently show them trailing Labour and Reform UK.
Written by AI on 2026-10-04, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, delivered a confident speech at the party's annual conference in Birmingham on October 4th, aiming to reshape her party’s image after their historic defeat in the 2024 general election. Her stance is that she represents a "common sense" and "no-nonsense" approach, positioning herself as the antithesis of Labour’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage, whom she has characterized respectively as a "cheesy uncle" and a "grumpy grandpa." Despite trailing in polls behind both Labour and Reform UK, Badenoch argues that her party is now distinct from the one defeated in 2024, highlighting plans to tighten welfare policies and expand prison capacity. Her personal poll ratings are higher than those of the Conservative Party itself, indicating a growing public recognition and support for her leadership style. The conference also marked a return to larger venues, signaling an attempt by the Conservatives to regain their footing on the national stage after facing significant challenges in recent years.

Written for “Kemi Badenoch Leads Tory Conference” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 51 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Kemi Badenoch Leads Tory Conference
Politics · 52 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 3 of 26 claims Outlet record 68/100
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 3 of 23 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different policy announcements by Mark Carney and the Conservatives regarding environmental regulations and subsidies, occurring at distinct times.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 3 of 21 claims Outlet record 69/100
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 25 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 28 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 5 of 40 claims Outlet record 64/100
“While both articles discuss Conservative Party policies at a conference on October 4, 2026, they describe different speeches or announcements made by different individuals.”
BBC News
Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes the Conservative party's announcement plans to scrap certain regulations, while Article B refers to newspaper headlines about a 'bonfire of green laws', likely referring to different or earlier pronouncements.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events: one about the Tories' pledge to scrap environmental agencies and regulations, and the other about campaigners urging the prime minister to rethink special educational needs reforms.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
52
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-04 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2856 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor
16 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 A speech at Harvard on Monday will be her first public intervention on her own record and on Britain’s future, wisely left until after John Healey’s first budget.
🔮 The former Green party leader Adrian Ramsay has said the party must fix its internal democracy to avoid a takeover by the hard left, saying that some new members “might be more at home” in Your Party or the Socialist Workers party.
🔮 Labour looks less likely to meet its manifesto pledge to equalise the minimum wage for younger workers before the next election, after the chancellor failed to guarantee the rise would happen within that timeframe.
🔮 Kemi Badenoch has said an apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade would be a “navel-gazing distraction”, describing slavery as an evil “in which people from every continent and region participated”.
🔮 British officials have begun discussions with the EU about a long-term relationship that could include a return to free movement, the business secretary has said while promising the British people “are the boss” when it comes to what the UK will accept.
🔮 Ministers will make an unprecedented intervention in water bills and how companies prioritise investment, directing bosses to bring down costs and stop leaks and sewage overflows.
🔮 Andy Burnham is to recruit a number of advisers to plug gaps in No 10, including an expert on how AI will affect society.
🔮 John Healey will not raise capital gains tax in next week’s budget, despite previous calls to do so from cabinet colleagues including Louise Haigh and Wes Streeting.
🔮 A shadow minister has called for the government to freeze the minimum wage for five years, a move that could cost low-paid workers almost £9,000.
🔮 Nigel Farage has denied that a Reform UK government would authorise lethal force against migrant crossings in the Channel, hours after one of his MPs said the Royal Marines should be permitted to fire on the boats.
Also by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 16 articles by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor →

Topics

Conservative Conservatives Labour Natural England the Environment Agency

Subjects

Griffith PERSON · 4× Labour ORG · 4× Andy Burnham PERSON · 2× Conservative NORP · 2× Conservatives NORP · 2× Natural England ORG · 2× Tories NORP · 2× the Environment Agency ORG · 2× Andrew Griffith PERSON · 1× Tory ORG · 1×

Narrative

The shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith, will say the party intends to “streamline regulations” that protect nature and oblige developers to include affordable homes and community services such as GP surgeries, to speed up infrastructure and housebuilding.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-04
🔮 The Conservatives will announce a bonfire of regulations including abolishing affordable homes and community funding rules as well as scrapping Natural England and the Environment Agency.
2026-10-04 · The Guardian
Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England · assertive framing

Claims (28 extracted, 1 hedged)

The Conservatives will announce a bonfire of regulations including abolishing affordable homes and community funding rules as well as scrapping Natural England and the Environment Agency. asserted
Conservatives → announce → England
The shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith, will say the party intends to “streamline regulations” that protect nature and oblige developers to include affordable homes and community services such as GP surgeries, to speed up infrastructure and housebuilding. asserted
that → say → infrastructure
The announcements on Monday are a signal that the party intends to refocus on the economy, an area where it has made relatively little progress in the polls. asserted
it → intend → polls
Tory strategists believe there is a major opening to make gains against Reform and Labour, given the limited focus on growth from Andy Burnham and the chancellor, John Healey, at the Labour conference last week. asserted
strategists → believe → conference
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, published a new tract on Sunday called The Right Way, which she said would be the bedrock that underpinned the party’s policy development before the next election. asserted
that → publish → election
Polls have the party still trailing third behind Labour and Reform UK. asserted
party → have → Labour
Introducing the document – inspired by Margaret Thatcher’s The Right Approach from 1976 – Badenoch said the Conservatives still expected to win the next election and needed to “hit the ground running … asserted
Conservatives → introduce → ground
We will need to be ready from day one, having already shown people what kind of government we are going to be.” asserted
we → need → government
“Keir Starmer didn’t have a plan. asserted
Starmer → have → plan
That’s why he’s gone,” she said. asserted
she → ’ → ?
“Andy Burnham doesn’t have one either and that is why I know the announcements he is making will all come to naught. asserted
he → have → naught
We have to be different, different from Labour, and different from the party we were two years ago. asserted
we → have → party
In a slew of announcements at the Conservative party conference on Monday, the Tories will pledge measures that they claim would cut the price of a new home by £50,0000, including scrapping net zero regulations on housebuilding, such as the Future Homes Standard, which requires all new homes in England to be zero-carbon ready. uncertain
which → pledge → England
The party will promise to replace section 106 agreements and the community infrastructure levy that oblige developers to build a proportion of affordable housing and support school and health service demands locally. asserted
that → promise → demands
Instead, there will be a “one stop” levy on developers, Griffith will say. asserted
Griffith → say → developers
The party has also pledged to abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency, “moving to a more streamlined regulatory landscape to protect our environment”. asserted
party → pledge → environment
Griffith will say in his first speech as shadow chancellor that the Tories would continue to back the expansion of Heathrow airport and leave the Aarhus convention, which makes it easier for community groups to oppose developments. asserted
groups → say → developments
Conservative shadow Treasury ministers will be tasked with finding new ways of simplifying tax for individuals and businesses, Griffith will say, calling the tax code “a cat’s cradle of complexity”. asserted
Griffith → task → complexity
In his speech, he will say: “No one else is coming to save our economy. asserted
one → say → economy
Only we can inject reality, tell the hard truths and make this a country we are proud to hand on to the next generation. “Our task just got bigger. asserted
task → inject → generation
We face a prime minister that wants to return Britain to an imagined past. asserted
that → face → past
We will set out our plans line by line. asserted
We → set → line
Griffith will say that the government must speed up the building of a Heathrow third runway in whatever way it can. asserted
it → say → way
“I refuse to accept for a single moment that the country of Brunel and Bazalgette, of the vaccine taskforce and the Mulberry harbours, has to sit around waiting until the 2040s to get a third runway built,” he will say. asserted
he → refuse → 2040s
Burnham has recently expressed personal scepticism about the Heathrow third runway, saying he would take differing views seriously. asserted
he → express → views
The new shadow housing secretary, Katie Lam, will say the scrapping of housing regulations and of enforcement bodies would mean “anti-growth ideologues can never again hold our country hostage”. asserted
ideologues → say → country
The party said Natural England and the Environment Agency were preventing too many homes being built and adding unnecessary costs to building. asserted
homes → say → building
Both bodies would be scrapped, with their necessary functions brought directly into Defra. asserted
functions → scrap → Defra
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