Thanks to you, British bees can breathe a tiny sigh of relief. The government’s decided to keep the ban on bee-killing pesticides. [1] They’ve listened to the science, and the hundreds of thousands of us who were speaking up for our bees.

There’s a sting in the tail though. The powerful lobbyists who want the ban lifted aren’t giving up. They’ve said they’re “committed” to getting a yes from the government. [2] They could make another application within weeks. We need to be ready.

But when they try to get their way again, we won’t know. We won’t even get to see the evidence they give to back up their arguments. Because right now the entire process is done in secret. No public consultation or scrutiny allowed. [3]

Please sign the open letter to Environment Minister Liz Truss now, demanding transparency. The more we know about the danger to bees, the more we can do to stop it:Last year when they were deciding whether to let bee-killing pesticides back on UK fields, the government gagged their own experts. And made the final decision behind closed doors. The only reason that together we found out in time to stop them was because a concerned MP, Barry Gardiner, pushed to learn what was going on, and told 38 Degrees members. [4]

And we were ready:

• 250,000 of us signed the petition to keep bee-killing pesticides off UK fields. We delivered every name to government ministers last week, just before the decision was made.
• Thousands of us emailed our MPs to make sure they had copies of our hard hitting report proving last year’s decision was wrong. And we delivered it directly into the hands of the government’s expert advisors.
• We caused a buzz on social media when tens of thousands of us tweeted the government ministers making the decision on bee-killing pesticides.
• Then amazingly, almost a hundred MPs came to listen to a panel of experts at our event in Parliament last week. [5]

38 Degrees members have got the truth out. But lobbyists are going to keep coming up with new reasons to get around the ban. Don’t let them get away with it. Sign the open letter to expose the truth behind any new application now:Thanks for being involved,

Maddy, Amy, Rachel and the 38 Degrees team

PS: Bees will be feasting on a buffet of wildflowers this summer. Up and down the country, thousands of 38 Degrees members are planting wildflowers in our gardens, schools and allotments. You can join in and order your seeds here:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/bee-seed-ordering

NOTES:
[1] The Guardian: Ministers reject plan for 'emergency' use of banned bee-harming pesticides:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/13/mps-vote-against-emergency-use-of-banned-bee-harming-pesticides
This is advice from the government’s pesticide advisors, UK Expert Committee on Pesticides. It says that “the applications do not meet the criteria for an emergency authorisation”:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523047/ecp-ministers-advice-1605.pdf
[2] NFU online: NFU to continue with neonicotinoids application:
http://www.nfuonline.com/news/latest-news/nfu-to-continue-with-neonicotinoids-application/
[3] The government keeps the details of applications to lift the ban on bee-killing pesticides secret from MPs and the public. Add on top of that last year the government gagged their own experts, then made the final decision behind closed doors just before MPs went on summer holiday and it means there’s a huge lack of scrutiny.
[4] Barry Gardiner submitted a ‘written question’ to Liz Truss, the Environment Minister, in a bit to get her to reveal whether any applications to lift the ban had been made. She was forced to admit (at the end of April) that two applications were being assessed:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-04-19/34699/
[5] 38 Degrees Blog: 38 Degrees members are standing up for the bees in 2016:
https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/902