MIKE Amesbury has called for more funding for the watchdog tasked with regulating the chemicals industry if Britain leaves the EU with no deal.

Speaking in the Commons, the member for Weaver Vale told gathered MPs that many of the current protections designed to ensure the safety of the public in relation to chemicals and genetically modified organisms currently derive from EU laws, but that after Brexit these would revert to the Health and Safety Executive – a department which has already suffered cuts of 40 per cent.

Mike told the meeting: “The chemicals industry has been and remains a major presence in my constituency of Weaver Vale and the surrounding area, so the regulations are of particular interest to my constituents and many major employers including Ineos-Inovyn and Tata Chemicals.

“The regulation and labelling of chemicals is an issue not only for those who manufacture, produce and sell them, but for all of us who use them on a day-to-day basis, whether directly in the form of household goods or medical products, or indirectly in relation to the food we eat and the environment we enjoy.

“As the minister said, that means it is vitally important that we get the regulations right.”