Thread by @James_BG

You'd be forgiven for missing this and it is not as dramatic as Ministers inflaming sectarian tensions or booking ferry companies without ferries, but it is still sort of worrying with just three weeks to go... businessgreen.com/bg/news-analys… BG+

May today said there would be no race to the bottom on workers rights and environmental standards (although she again provided scant detail). That's great, but it's not as strong as what she has said previously.

Not weakening standards is welcome, but the real issue is what happens when the EU strengthens air quality or recycling or fuel standards, as it will over time.

In her desperation to win over a few Labour MPs May had previously said the government could ask Parliament whether it wants to match EU standards each time Brussels changes them.

This is important as Brussels will boost standards and if we end up with a trade deal it'll want UK to broadly match them to avoid unfair competition. UK would have to mirror EU or else... consequences. But how do you do that?

Giving Parliament a say seems sensible - take back control, and all that. But what if Parliament said 'no', unleashing sanctions from the EU. This is the serious nitty, gritty of Brexit politics.

Anyways, was there any detail on this important issue in May's speech beyond the platitude of not engaging in a 'race to the bottom' on environmental standards? Of course not.

Thankfully, Greg Clark had something to say about it this week. The problem was it was almost as vague as his boss's previous comments.

The plan seems to be that the government would have a statutory duty to tell Parliament if the EU strengthens air quality standards, for example, and then tell Parliament what it intends to do about that. Parliament would then 'consider' what it has been told.

Does consider mean it gets to vote on whether to match the EU standards?

No one knows and the government is categorically not telling.

Could civil society sue the government for not upping its standards? Well, that kind of depends on the Green Watchdog governance framework that is in the Environment Bill but it nowhere near finished.

Asked about the progress on this crucial framework this week, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he was still open to suggestions on how it should work.

In conclusion, and channeling @IanDunt, there are three weeks to go and it is a fucking mess. A tyre yard fire of amorphous administrative uncertainty.

May hints at parliamentary oversight and dynamic standards, but can't piss off the headbangers who want to ditch green rules, so we get a linguistic dance where the goal is not good governance, but a form of words to keep diametrically opposed groups happy for another day or two.

Anyways, you can read about the latest uncertainties here. And, yes, there'll be more Green Brexit fun and games next week. businessgreen.com/bg/news-analys… BG+