Speeches by Farron.

“The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and I are indeed never seen in the same place together. [Laughter.] Stramongate nursery school in Kendal faces closure following an Ofsted inspection. If it had been a regular school, it would have had help to remain open under special measures, but as it is, the nursery has…”

“Will the hon. Lady and the Treasury Committee look very carefully at the Chancellor’s proposals on agricultural property relief? They are very likely to do damage to small, family-owned farms, and especially to tenants, who are likely to be evicted as a consequence. Will she look at what that might do—not just for basi…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your guidance today, Mr Twigg. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne) for bringing this important debate to this place at this time and for making astonishingly good use of it. There is no doubt whatever that Zoe’s Place and the fundraising appeal will have…”

“At 10 pm last night, the Government announced a £70 million increase in funding for radiotherapy. As the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for radiotherapy, I very much welcome that, but would it not have been better and right for the Government to make a statement to the House so that the policy could be prop…”

“Given that, I assume, everyone in the Chamber has eaten at some point today, do we think that backing Britain’s farmers is a good use of public money, and given that there is a £2.4 billion budget for British farming, which the last Government underspent foolishly, recklessly and carelessly, will the Chief Secretary gu…”

“Will the Secretary of State give way?”

“True enough, and I am sure I should know better. Recruiting and retaining good people who will serve our country is made a little easier if they know that they will be cared for in the years after they leave active service. Will the Secretary of State say something about the importance of investing in mental health sup…”

“rose—”

“If the Minister wants to say, “Yes”, she will meet me, I will be delighted to give way to her.”

“I absolutely agree. That reminds us that, of the over 464,000-plus spills that took place in 2023, most were legal and permitted—and most of them should not have been. We juxtapose this failure with the reality of money leaking out of the sector in the form of dividends and bonuses. Since privatisation, £78 billion has…”

“In one second. At Greystoke on the River North Petteril, there were 146 spills. I could go on, but I will give way to my hon. Friend.”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the regulation and financial stability of water companies. It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your guidance this afternoon, Mr Pritchard. It is a real honour and privilege to have secured this debate on a matter of enormous importance to my constituents in Westmorlan…”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. To a large degree, I welcome it—or at least the intention behind it—but water companies dumped 54% more sewage into our lakes, rivers and coastal areas in 2023 than in the previous year. That amounts to 464,000 spills, including many in the lak…”

“Mr Pritchard, she’s a good ‘un. I thank the Minister very much indeed; I appreciate that. Finally, I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate, but I also thank you, Mr Pritchard. That might sound a bit smarmy, but you and I go back a long way. I wish that when I first started here I had a Chair of Westminster H…”

“I see I have seven minutes—I will do my best not to use them all. I first want to reiterate something I said at the very beginning of my opening remarks: I genuinely pay tribute to the people who work on the ground for the water companies—it is United Utilities in my neck of the woods—Ofwat and the EA. I think these de…”

“I absolutely endorse the work of the campaigners in my hon. Friend’s community. Those on the banks of Coniston Water have done the same in our area, raising the bar and the standards under the current regulatory framework, inadequate though that is. It is clear that Thames Water has more than met the threshold to be ta…”

“I will give way one final time, because I am running out of time.”

“I agree. Although I also think an urgency is needed that many people who own water companies do not demonstrate, and that is why the Government need to lead—but I do think it is right that we get people together to make things significantly better. Over the past 33 years, for every pound that water companies have spent…”

“I very much agree. Regulation is the key. Welsh Water is not for profit and Scottish Water is publicly owned, yet they both still face major problems with sewage discharges. As my hon. Friend is getting at, there is evidence that although ownership and finances matter, effective regulation is the key, and we simply do …”

“Absolutely. That would be exactly the case at the heart of our community benefit model, which would be governed by a clean water authority. Profit would not be the overriding motive, and having the right people on board, including environmental campaigners in each area we are talking about, would keep the water compani…”