Tory voters want environmental regulations maintained after Brexit

Conservative thinktank finds voters want to protect laws on beach standards and renewable energy production

Significant majorities of Conservative voters want EU environmental regulations to be maintained or even strengthened in the wake of Brexit, a poll carried out for the Tory thinktank Bright Blue has found.

While a handful of prominent Conservatives, such as the former environment secretary Owen Paterson, have argued that leaving the EU will allow Britain to revamp its rules on the subject, the survey found huge support for the status quo.