Speeches by Reed.

“With the greatest respect, the hon. Lady’s party had 14 years to take action, and did nothing. Although I am grateful to the Liberal Democrats for calling this debate, and I think there are many points of similarity between our approaches, I must gently point to some of the opportunities they missed to take action when…”

“I do not think that decisions taken by the coalition Government were the fault of the previous Labour Government. I am merely gently pointing out that the Liberal Democrats did have a chance to reset regulation in the way that this Government are now doing. Where they offer their support for that work, I am grateful fo…”

“The hon. Gentleman makes a very powerful case for why reform is so desperately needed. My condolences to the owner of the dog—that is a terrible thing to happen to anybody.”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am angry about the bill rises, as she is. I am sure that Members on both sides of the House are angry about them, but in a very real sense, people are being forced to pay the price for 14 years of Conservative failure. Previous Governments let the sewage scandal spread; this Govern…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right, which is why we have given the regulator new powers through the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025. The Conservative party could have done so at any point during its 14 years in power, but at no point did it take that common-sense action. We passed that landmark piece of legislation, …”

“I recognise the catastrophe that the hon. Member is talking about. It is not just that the water is polluted; the water becomes toxic, and it is killing ecosystems and damaging the wider environment. Those are all reasons that we need to move ahead quickly with the reforms that this Government are working towards.”

“I will give way two more times and then I had better make some progress, or Madam Deputy Speaker will chastise me as she chastised the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale.”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I share his concerns. Wherever it is happening and damaging people’s ability to enjoy our rivers, it is a disgrace and a scandal, and we want to work across the House to put that right. Parents across the country should not have to worry about letting their c…”

“I know the River Ver very well; I used to walk past it every day on my way to primary school at the Abbey primary school at the bottom of the abbey orchard. I would be happy to make sure that the hon. Lady gets a meeting with the appropriate Minister to raise those points. The additional new resources that our reforms …”

“The right hon. Gentleman is entirely right, and I have asked Sir Jon Cunliffe to consider measures that we could implement to start to address that and, indeed, wider issues involving nutrient neutrality in our waterways.”

“Compared with being the Opposition, it is fantastic. It is not easy, and it is not meant to be easy; it is a tough job being part of the Government of the country. It is a tough job being an MP as well at the best of times, and times are challenging as you say. I think we have made a decent start if I am honest. We hav…”

“That is right; we are voting on it later.”

“We have increased the amount of funding available for flooding. It is £2.65 billion now, I think, which is the highest it has ever been. Given that our flood defences were in the worst state on record at the election, I was pleased that despite the hugely challenging financial situation we find ourselves in we can do t…”

“I cannot comment on a specific. I don’t know the detail of it, but I am glad that Emma has been to see it.”

“That is a flood management scheme, is it?”

“I would very much like to get to a point where we have a single scheme across the whole UK. The Welsh Government have chosen to adopt a different approach, but we have a scheme that will now operate across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. That is the right decision to have taken for those countries. It is compli…”

“The principles behind this are prevention and polluter pays. Those are principles that were established through the EPPS, to which the previous Government subscribed as well as the current one. There has been cost shunting, effectively, because it is left to local government—and, therefore, the taxpayer—to pay to clean…”

“DRS is due to come into force in October 2027.”

“You are right, and not just in other countries—here as well. If you speak to rural communities and landowners in rural areas, they will tell you how much rubbish is being collected from domestic or construction sites and just dumped on their land. We need much tougher enforcement and stronger sanctions, and I will have…”

“You are right. I recognise and share some of those feelings about how waste is dealt with now. That is why we need the investment in far better facilities that can identify and extract materials and then repurpose them so that they can be used again. In sectors as wide ranging as construction, textiles, and potentially…”