I was proud to sign the ‘Pledge for the Environment’ which commits MPs to supporting environmental protections post-Brexit.

A number of the UK’s environmental protections are established under EU law, which means that when the UK leaves the EU it will have to re-write these laws.

The Government could decide not to renew these protections, which is why MPs are signing this pledge, to show that they will commit to renewing them.

I am signing this pledge because we have a duty to protect the environment for the well-being of everyone, including future generations.

We must not allow this green and pleasant land to be sacrificed for short-term profit, as a result of short-term thinking.

When we leave the EU, we will have to re-establish ourselves on the world stage and lay out what we stand for as a country.  On environmental issues, we should lead the world and never falter from our responsibilities.

I am pleased to see that this pledge has been signed by over 180 MPs from all major political parties, which demonstrates the cross-party support for the environment.

The pledge was created by Greener UK, which includes 13 leading UK environmental organisations:

• The National Trust
• The RSPB
• The Wildlife Trusts
• The WWF
• Campaign for Better Transport
• Campaign to Protect Rural England
• ClientEarth
• E3G
• Friends of the Earth
• Green Alliance
• Greenpeace
• The Woodland Trust
• WWT

If you want more information on this campaign, you can go to: http://www.green-alliance.org.uk/GreenerUK.php