Exclusive: Planning bill includes mechanism for developers to ‘pay to pollute’ valuable ecosystems, experts warn * Ten top jewels at risk from the bill * ​New approach could help nature survive More than 5,000 of England’s most sensitive, rare and protected natural habitats are at high risk of being destroyed by development under Labour’s new planning bill, according to legal analysis of the legislation. The Guardian has examined the threat the bill poses to 5,251 areas known as nature’s “jewels in the crown”, as some of the country’s most respected wildlife charities call for a key part of the bill to be scrapped. Continue reading...

Housing secretary says wildlife should be protected but not at the expense of building the homes the country needs Newts should not be more protected than people who need homes, Angela Rayner has said ahead of an overhaul of national planning…

Exclusive: Tony Juniper, who will oversee nature restoration fund, says claims ‘not fully backed by evidence’ The government’s leading environmental adviser has said ministers are wrong to suggest nature is blocking development. Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, is to oversee a national nature restoration fund, paid into by developers, which will enable builders to sidestep environmental obligations at a particular site – even if it is a landscape protected for its wildlife. Continue reading...

In one of his first public addresses as acting Navy secretary, Hung Cao said he didn't need "cross-dressers" or "leaf eaters" in the service.