Prescott leads 'green' Cabinet committee

John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, will today chair his first meeting of a beefed-up "green" Cabinet committee with a broad remit to cover sustainable development, Tony Blair told leaders of green pressure groups yesterday.

The Government will also go ahead with a manifesto commitment to set up a parliamentary environmental audit committee with MPs from all parties, able to question ministers and officials from all government departments about policy and performance.

In the meantime, Greenpeace, the environmental pressure group, announced it would seek a judicial review hearing against the Government if it did not halt a new round of oil exploration and development in the North Sea and Atlantic. It believes that in allowing the oil companies to go ahead, the Government is in breach of two European Union directives protecting the environment and wildlife habitats. Nicholas Schoon

Letters, page 19