Wildlife & Countryside Link ‘The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has published the final report of its invasive species inquiry which, among other things, calls for a tripling of the invasive species budget and a ‘citizens army’ of 1.3 million volunteers to act as our frontline of defence. Link warmly welcomed the Committee’s recommendations, many of which we have campaigned on for some time. The Committee also echoed Link’s calls for the creation of an invasive species inspectorate, as exists for all other areas of animal and plant health, which would bring our biosecurity up to scratch and slow the tide of new species establishing. After the election, we will being pushing Defra and the Treasury to heed these calls and use the Spending Review 2020 to make these changes that are so urgently needed. Link’s Policy and Campaigns Manager Zoe Davies also wrote a blog in response to the Committee’s report.’