Conservatives claim government’s plan for higher welfare standards for farmed animals could undermine British agriculture
Here is a summary from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of what’s in the animal welfare strategy.
Improved welfare for companion animals by:
-Reforming dog breeding practices to improve health and welfare, preventing animals from becoming unwell and ending puppy farming
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
12/22/2025 - 04:38
12/22/2025 - 01:01
Milder weather led to a bloom in the invertebrates in south Cornwall and Devon, wildlife charity says
Record numbers of sightings of one of the world’s most intelligent invertebrates over the summer have led the Wildlife Trusts to declare 2025 “the year of the octopus” in its annual review of Britain’s seas.
A mild winter followed by an exceptionally warm spring prompted unprecedented numbers of Mediterranean octopuses to take up residence along England’s south coast, from Penzance in Cornwall to south Devon.
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12/22/2025 - 01:00
Humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish and end to puppy farming also in new package of animal welfare laws
Caged hens will be a thing of the past in England, the government has announced, as it launches a package of new animal welfare laws.
Pig farrowing crates, which campaigners have said are cruel, will also be banned under the welfare changes. These cramped crates are used to stop pigs from rolling over and crushing their young, but once in them sows cannot turn over or move around at all.
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12/21/2025 - 22:13
Magpie on a mince pie anyone?
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12/21/2025 - 08:00
The first ever mass deployment of mother reef bricks aims to rebuild habitats – and could reshape the North Sea
Allie Wharf’s career unfolded amid conflict. As a senior foreign producer for Newsnight, she reported on Iraq and Afghanistan. Just two years ago, she was filming mass graves in Ukraine.
But burnt out by wars, and after a detour farming ducks in Tanzania, Wharf has now settled on the quiet north Norfolk coast. Here, alongside her life and business partner, Willie Athill, she has embarked on a different kind of mission: the creation of Europe’s largest natural oyster reef.
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12/21/2025 - 06:00
Asda, Lidl and Morrisons understood to be stocking imported branded turkeys to meet Christmas demand
Several of the UK’s big supermarkets have been forced to source turkeys from elsewhere in Europe to keep shelves stocked this Christmas, after avian flu curtailed UK production.
Asda, Lidl and Morrisons are understood to be stocking branded turkey imported from mainland Europe – a move industry sources described as “unprecedented” – to “protect availability” and ensure sufficient supply for festive meals.
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‘The biggest transformation in a century’: how California remade itself as a clean energy powerhouse
12/20/2025 - 10:00
The Golden State’s clean energy use hit new highs in 2025. As the Trump administration abandons US climate initiatives, can California fill the void?
As officials from around the world met in Brazil for the Cop30 climate summit last month, the US president was nowhere to be found, nor were any members of his cabinet. Instead, the most prominent American voice in Belém was that of the California governor, Gavin Newsom.
During the five days he spent in Brazil, Newsom described Donald Trump as an “invasive species” and condemned his rollback of policies aimed at reducing emissions and expanding renewable energy. Newsom, long considered a presidential hopeful, argued that, as the US retreated, California would step up in its place as a “stable, reliable” climate leader and partner.
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12/20/2025 - 05:00
Heating means pests breeding and spreading faster, warn scientists, with simplified current food system already vulnerable
How climate breakdown is putting the world’s food in peril – in maps and charts
The destruction of food supplies by crop pests is being supercharged by the climate crisis, with losses expected to surge, an analysis has concluded.
Researchers said the world was lucky to have so far avoided a major shock and was living on borrowed time, with action needed to diversify crops and boost natural predators of pests.
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12/20/2025 - 03:00
System operator Neso predicts lowest carbon intensity ever on Christmas Day after new wind and solar power come online
Britain’s energy system operator has predicted that this year’s Christmas Day could be the greenest yet.
If the weather remains mild and windy for the rest of December, the National Energy System Operator (Neso) has said it could record the lowest carbon intensity – the measure of how much carbon dioxide is released to produce electricity – recorded on the network for 25 December.
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12/20/2025 - 01:00
European legislators may ban plant-based products from using the name to prevent ‘confusion’. Just don’t mention beef tomatoes or buffalo wings
Most of what you eat is sausages. I mean, if we’re going to get literal about it. Sausage derives from the Latin salsicus, which means “seasoned with salt”. You might think of a sausage as a simple thing, but on this reading it is everything and nothing, a Borgesian meta-concept that retreats as you approach it.
From another perspective, a sausage is an offal-filled intestine, or the macerated parts of an electrocuted or asphyxiated pig or other animal – generally parts that you wouldn’t knowingly eat – mixed with other ingredients that, in isolation, you might consider inedible. For some reason, it is seldom marketed as such.
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