Speeches by Reynolds.

“I am a Buckinghamshire Member, Mr Speaker, but there we go. The Government are delivering our manifesto commitments to improve access to nature and deliver three national forests. We recently announced that the second national forest will be in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor. Milton Keynes is the beating economic heart …”

“I share the public’s frustration with what has happened in recent years, but I reassure her that we will take decisive action. We have already passed the Water (Special Measures) Act, but we will also be issuing a White Paper later this year and will legislate to ensure that we have better regulation, a better regulato…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Under this Labour Government, there is nowhere to hide for polluting water companies. We have overseen record fines on water companies and are introducing automatic penalties—like speeding tickets—to ensure that those companies are held to account for every level of offence.”

“I thank the hon. Member for his question, and I look forward to working with him on this issue. We will look at pre-pipe solutions in the forthcoming White Paper, which I look forward to discussing with him when we publish it.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her campaigning on this issue. We recognise the scale of the challenge facing our water system and are taking decisive action to reset the sector. We will create a single powerful water regulator, abolishing Ofwat and ending the fragmentation that led to the abuses of the past. As my hon. Fri…”

“I am delighted to lead the first all-woman ministerial team in a UK Department of State. My focus as the new Secretary of State is delivering the Government’s No. 1 mission of economic growth, while restoring our natural environment. I have four big priorities: cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas; backing British fa…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his doughty campaigning on this issue. We are already taking forward secondary legislation to ban plastic wet wipes, which are a major source of pollution in our waterways. As I have said previously, this Government are taking decisive action to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. We will pu…”

“Under the previous Government, water bosses awarded themselves over £112 million in bonuses. Thanks to this Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, water company bosses who pollute our waterways have been blocked from receiving millions of pounds in unfair bonuses for the past financial year.”

“The Government will publish a White Paper later this year outlining our vision for the future of the water sector, making the most fundamental reform of our water system in a generation. We are determined to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas to deliver better outcomes for consumers and the environment.”

“Like the hon. Member, I am appalled by this plastic pollution incident, which affects his constituency, nearby constituencies and Camber Sands. We are holding Southern Water to account. There needs to be a thorough investigation of what happened, and as has been said by the Minister with responsibility for water and fl…”

“I live in a rural area, represent a semi-rural seat, and have 89 farms in my constituency. I understand the pressures that farmers are under, but the catastrophic mistake made by the previous Government was that they could not even be bothered to spend the farming budget. We have put more Government money in the hands …”

“This is a highly sensitive issue. The reasons for somebody taking their life are often very complex, and my heart goes out to every family devastated by these events. I am not willing to make political points on this issue.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for campaigning on these issues. We have already banned bonuses in six water companies, including Anglian Water, as she will know, for not meeting our high standards. That is a powerful incentive for companies to deliver immediate improvements and rebuild public trust. Together, I hope that we ca…”

“I am a keen cyclist myself, so I might visit the hon. Lady as well. As we set out in our manifesto, the Government are committed to improving access to nature, and I look forward to working with her to do so.”

“I am delighted to be at these questions for the first time, but I must say that the Conservatives have some brass neck. Under their Government, they could not even be bothered to spend the farming budget. We have got more Government money into the hands of farmers than ever before, and a record number of farmers are in…”

“Minister Eagle is leading this work, and she has met with a number of the organisations. I do not think that we have a specific problem.”

“Let me say very clearly—I know that Ms Dollimore asked about the coastal communities—that this is definitely our responsibility. DEFRA has overall policy responsibility for coastal erosion and risk management around coastal erosion. You have talked about the shoreline management plans, and I will say a bit more about t…”

“We will take that away. The list of things that you mentioned are obviously our responsibility and we acknowledge that many of the challenges that coastal communities face—coastal erosion being one of them but not the only one; there are also flooding, water pollution—do sit in our purview. Let us come back to you in m…”

“Let us take that away. That is something we would have to give some thought to. But let us come back to you on the specifics and on the broader point.”

“Okay.”