Contributions
1,009 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place and to this House. I hope Conservative Members will engage constructively with the commission, so that he can feed in his views directly.…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI had the pleasure of visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency with him during the summer. I saw for myself the impact of sewage in the sea on the beautiful beaches around his part…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI am very sorry for the year 2 pupils at the school the hon. Lady mentioned. I respectfully remind her that she represents the party that sat back and did nothing for 14 years,…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend is absolutely right; it is disgusting for people to see sewage bubbling up, and not just in their high streets but even in their gardens, because of broken water…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI hope the hon. Lady will look at the terms of reference, which are available at gov.uk. They focus on the whole catchment area of rivers and include agricultural run-off, which…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend is absolutely right that the previous Government deliberately weakened the regulators. They kept regulation too weak to hold the water companies to account and to…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionThe hon. Gentleman makes important points. The areas he refers to will be in scope for the commission. I hope he will make his own representations to ensure those points are heard…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend makes an important point. Consumers must have a strong voice on the commission. They will gain that through consumer representation on the advisory group that will…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI thank my hon. Friend for her question. She is, of course, a well-known environmental campaigner who stands up for her constituents and for the many businesses, including tourism…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI thought the hon. Gentleman was standing up to apologise for the fact that the Conservative Government did absolutely nothing for 14 years, other than watch the torrent of…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend makes an important point. The many campaign groups and citizen scientists have had a huge impact on raising the profile of the sewage scandal affecting our country…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI have, of course, already taken action myself. I had the water chief executives into my office just seven days after the general election, and we agreed a programme of initial…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI thank my hon. Friend for her question. I had the pleasure of visiting Truro and Falmouth during the election, and I saw for myself the problems there. It is disgusting to see…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionIt will be for the commission to look at what we need to do to improve infrastructure and fix the broken system that we have at the moment. We are making sure that every overflow…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI thank my hon. Friend for her question. I had the pleasure of visiting Bournemouth West with her, and I saw for myself the impact on businesses and tourism in that part of the…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionUnfortunately, the hon. Gentleman is referring to commitments to spend money that did not exist. We are waiting for the Chancellor to announce her Budget from this Dispatch Box in…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI recognise what my hon. Friend says about Poole harbour. It is, indeed, an incredibly beautiful part of the country. I have visited it several times and, sadly, I have also seen…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionThe reason I have ruled out nationalisation is that it would not resolve the problems we face. We saw in the Olympics in France that the River Seine was not able to be used for…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend represents an incredibly beautiful part of the country in the Gower, and her constituents and the many people who visit those beauty spots will want to know that…23 Oct 2024HANSARD Independent Water CommissionYes, the impact of run-off from agriculture will be in the scope of the commission’s work.23 Oct 2024