Speeches by Hardy.

“I agree with everything that you have said there. You and I have talked; the situation is far from ideal, and I want to be in a situation where the new regulator is able to intervene and prevent a situation like this happening. But I am going to let David come back on the specifics.”

“I am very happy to take that away. On the wider point and principle, a lot of what the Independent Water Commission was looking at is how we prevent a situation like this happening in the future.”

“Let me take that and give it to Minister Creagh because she is responsible for the Circular Economy Taskforce and I would not want to misrepresent her. I will ask her a little about the plastic waste exports and if that is something she is considering with the circular economy, then I can make sure the Committee has a …”

“That is a really interesting point. There are definitely things we can do as a country, and of course Minister Creagh is leading on recycling and circular economy. There are also definitely conversations that can be had with some big companies through the Ellen MacArthur Foundation about actions they can take as well. …”

“I saw that evidence session and it was incredibly worrying that scientists would feel they were being pressured in any way. When I was over in Geneva I met with Richard just to show the support the United Kingdom has for our independent scientific community that is giving its evidence in good faith and that we 100% sta…”

“It is not something I have looked at yet, but on a general basis I am quite open for exploring all the different options we have. As I said, how I like to work as a politician is looking for where we can all join together and achieve the same aim, so I am keen for whatever we can do to reduce plastic pollution. That is…”

“Thank you. The UK delegation was really excellent and there were a number of different areas where they were strong: plastic production was one, as was chemicals of concern; there was a whole range. You are quite right to point out that if we are going to achieve what we really want to here—the Global Plastics Treaty—w…”

“Yes, of course. As I say, a huge focus is on resilience to the changing climate in terms of water, but one of the most meaningful things is the changes around the Green Book. I know the ears of some people who work for local government prick up whenever you mention the Green Book—other people might not be quite as exci…”

“In terms of the Green Book changes, they have happened so people have to go via the Green Book whenever they are doing anything, and they have to make it climate resilient. So that is done. In terms of the research, that was set up in April this year so it is active and working right now. We are also looking at what ot…”

“Sorry, I misunderstood. You are quite right; we need to be able to manage all our water courses effectively. As I say, I am happy to pick up on the specifics in your area that you have mentioned, as I know how awful it was for the people who suffered with the floods last time.”

“Of course.”

“I know my colleague, Minister Creagh, has been doing some work on the particulars around peatland and peatland management. I suppose the issue of wildfires probably comes more into farming, if I am being really honest with you. I talked before to Jenny about the management of water in that area and my vision for how we…”

“Thank you for writing to me about this issue. I just want to recognise that I completely understand the fear people have: once you have been flooded I do not think you ever get over it, so I understand why it is a worry in your constituency. Speaking more generally—rather than about your specific case—I know that the E…”

“I can obviously speak to everything relating to water on your questions. Looking at the horrendous time farmers have with floods, we have the NFU on the Floods Resilience Taskforce looking at water pollution, and I really want farmers to feel like we are doing this with them. I know that there is willingness across the…”

“My role would be looking at how we have a more resilient water system as a whole. As I say, that involves making sure that farmers have the water they need at the time they need it, so that is where I am seeing my role with this. You are right to point out that at the moment it has not been working. I know there are tr…”

“Of course the roadmap is being led by the farming Minister but we are going to respond formally to the Climate Change Committee’s report. We will give a formal response to all the points that it has made and the work that it is doing. As we have seen and felt this year and have just been talking about with Sarah, a lac…”

“We will respond formally but you take it on the chin and realise you have to work harder and do more, and that is exactly what we are trying to do. We take the report seriously and will respond formally. As I say, since then we have come out with a research plan and are making sure we have it in the 10-year infrastruct…”

“Just on a personal level, I went to Geneva with high hopes myself. I have to say our team—the people from DEFRA going out to represent the United Kingdom—were incredible, and I just want to pay tribute to them. To say that we were all disappointed is probably an understatement: we were incredibly disappointed not to ha…”

“Yes, of course. I am delighted to still be the Minister for Water and Flooding, and I am joined by David Hallam, who is one of the Directors from DEFRA.”

“That is a great question. The Government do not put companies into special administration, the courts put companies into special administration. This is how it works: we would apply by making a case to the court and writing to them to say, “We believe this company should go into special administration, this is our argu…”