Farm groups have welcomed the appointment of Brexiteer Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Defra, though environmentalists have been scathing, warning that Mr Gove’s record of pushing for deregulation and repressing teaching on climate change in schools bodes ill as he takes over the environment brief.

As Education Secretary under the Coalition Government, Gove attempted to strike climate change eduction from the geography curriculum, but was thwarted by Lib Dem Coalition partners. In March this year, from the Conservative back benches, he called for the scrapping of the EU Habitats Directive - a major measure to prevent further declines in EU biodiversity, which is in freefall. Gove said the habitats Directive is an impediment to more housebuilding in his constituency of Surrey Heath

On Monday, NFU president Meurig Raymond wrote an open letter to Mr Gove, in which he offered his “sincere congratulations” and appealed to the Secretary of State to give farmers ‘certainty’ on the terms of a Brexit deal as soon as possible.

Mr Raymond said, “We are looking to Defra; to work with us and our members, to champion farming within the Government and to work closely with the devolved governments across the UK.
 
“With farming arguably the sector most impacted by Brexit, NFU members need certainty as soon as possible that this Government will make Brexit a success for British food and farming. To achieve our potential, we need a future post-Brexit trade arrangement that delivers the best possible access to the vital EU market, as well as continued access to a competent and reliable workforce.”

The NFU President also laid out the NFU’s other headline policy demands, which it first shared in a ‘manifesto’ released shortly after Theresa May called last week’s snap election in April. These policy designs include continued commitment to badger culling (as part of the Government’s 25-Year TB Eradication strategy), a favourable pesticide regulation system (Mr Raymond made a direct request for the Defra secretary to lend support for the reauthorisation of embattled herbicide glyphosate) and action on rural crime issues including fly-tipping, theft and hare coursing.
 
However, Brighton Pavilion MP and Green Party Co-Leader Caroline Lucas MP said, “It is hard to think of many politicians as ill equipped for the role of environment secretary as Michael Gove. His record of voting against measures to halt climate change and his attempt to wipe the subject from our children’s curriculum show him entirely unfit to lead our country in tackling one of the greatest threats we face. And as we enter Brexit negotiations, Gove’s past suggestion we scrap vital EU environmental protections becomes ever more concerning.

“This appointment is further evidence of both Theresa May’s complete disregard for the environment and her desperation to hold together a Government in chaos.”

Also highlighting the newly appointed Secretary of State’s patchy track record on environment issues, Greenpeace’s UK executive director John Sauven said, “He once described himself as a ‘shy green’, and that shyness was fully on display when he tried to remove climate change from the school curriculum, called for the Habitat Directive to be scrapped, and voted to sell off our forests… Gove will need to abandon the notion that environmental laws are just a hindrance to house builders and realise that without them we won’t be leaving a greener, healthier Britain to our children.”

Sauven urged the Defra secretary to apply his “Reformist zeal” to overhauling the farm payments system, which will be a major part of finding a replacement for the EU Common Agriculture Policy as Brexit unfolds.

Also reacting on Sunday, prominent environmentalist writer George Monbiot tweeted “I see that Environment Secretary remains a punishment posting: the Craggy Island of government,” in reference to comedy series Father Ted and speculation around PM Theresa May’s appointment of her former leadership rival and prominent Brexiteer Andrea Leadsom to the environment department in the wake of last year’s Brexit vote. Mr Gove found himself without a cabinet position in May’s 2016 reshuffle, after also running against the former Home Secretary, having initially backed Boris Johnson’s Prime Ministerial Bid only to enter the race himself just hours after Johnson’s campaign launch.