Defra breached law when it let farmers use bee-killing pesticide, watchdog says (www.theguardian.com)

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The UK government breached environmental law on several occasions when granting farmers permission to use a bee-killing pesticide, a watchdog has found.

In 2023 and 2024, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the then Conservative government granted emergency authorisation to allow farmers to use a banned neonicotinoid pesticide on sugar beet crops.

The pesticide, Cruiser SB, contains the active ingredient thiamethoxam. One teaspoon of this is enough to kill 1.25bn honeybees, according to Prof Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex.

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this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2026

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