Neonicotinoid pesticide ban backed by the UK

The UK will support a Europe-wide ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides, following a review of the latest scientific advice. The decision reverses the government’s previous opposition to prohibition of the world’s most extensively used pesticides, because of a growing understanding of the harm they’re doing to bees. Studies across Europe and in Canada suggest the damage goes beyond the season they’re applied, and into the wider countryside.