Farmer speaks out over sewage being pumped into a local river

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A proposal from the Lords to the Environment Bill that would have placed legal duties on sewage companies to reduce how much is dumped was defeated by 265 MPs’ votes to 202 last week. Peers in the House of Lords tabled an amendment to the Environment Bill that would make water companies and the government demonstrate progressive reductions in discharges of untreated sewage, requiring them to “take all reasonable steps” to avoid using combined sewer overflows.

But ministers said the changes were unnecessary because safeguards are already contained in the bill.

The move has, unsurprisingly, provoked outrage amongst the public and environmental groups.

The vote comes as scrutiny on the Government’s green credentials intensifies ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, which begins next week.

Conservative Huw Merriman, who voted for the amendment despite the whip, said “what was being proposed by the government wasn’t enough”.

He said: “To have sewage being discharged down streets, when there is too much rain, into the sea” is “just absolutely shocking”.

“It does mean more investment. That may ultimately mean more expensive bills, but we’re talking about decades of investment and it’s got to happen.”

MP Julie Marson was on the other side of the fence, citing higher costs for taxpayers if the amendment was made.

She said: “The preliminary cost of the required infrastructure change was estimated to be between £150bn and £650bn.

“Unless we asked taxpayers to contribute, most of the water companies who would be carrying out this work would go bankrupt, meaning the work could not be completed anyway.

“The cost works out at between about £5,000 and £20,000 per household.

“I felt it would be unfair to sting local people with a bill of this size.”

Every MP that voted against the amendment is a Tory MP.

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Steve Double (Conservative – St Austell and Newquay)
Scott Mann (Conservative – North Cornwall)
George Eustice (Conservative – Camborne and Redruth – sewage affecting Godrevy, Portreath, Porthtowan etc)
Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative – Truro and Falmouth – St Agnes, Porthtowan, Falmouth, Perranporth etc)
Gary Streeter (Conservative – South West Devon)
Robert Goodwill (Conservative – Scarborough and Whitby)
Greg Knight (Conservative – East Yorkshire)
Jacob Young (Conservative – Redcar)
Matt Hancock (Conservative – West Suffolk)
James Cartlidge (Conservative – South Suffolk)
Alun Cairns (Conservative – Vale of Glamorgan)
Duncan Baker (Conservative – North Norfolk)
Scott Benton (Conservative – Blackpool South)
Stephen Crabb (Conservative – Preseli Pembrokeshire)
David T C Davies (Conservative – Monmouth)
James Davies (Conservative – Vale of Clwyd)
Jamie Wallis (Conservative – Bridgend)
Nigel Adams (Conservative – Selby and Ainsty)
Adam Afriyie (Conservative – Windsor)
Peter Aldous (Conservative – Waveney)
Lucy Allan (Conservative – Telford)
Lee Anderson (Conservative – Ashfield)
Stuart Andrew (Conservative – Pudsey)
Edward Argar (Conservative – Charnwood)
Victoria Atkins (Conservative – Louth and Horncastle)
Gareth Bacon (Conservative – Orpington)
Kemi Badenoch (Conservative – Saffron Walden)
Shaun Bailey (Conservative – West Bromwich West)
Steve Baker (Conservative – Wycombe)
Harriett Baldwin (Conservative – West Worcestershire)
Steve Barclay (Conservative – North East Cambridgeshire)
Simon Baynes (Conservative – Clwyd South)
Aaron Bell (Conservative – Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Paul Beresford (Conservative – Mole Valley)
Bob Blackman (Conservative – Harrow East)
Crispin Blunt (Conservative – Reigate)
Peter Bone (Conservative – Wellingborough)
Andrew Bowie (Conservative – West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Graham Brady (Conservative – Altrincham and Sale West)
Suella Braverman (Conservative – Fareham)
Jack Brereton (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent South)
Andrew Bridgen (Conservative – North West Leicestershire)
Steve Brine (Conservative – Winchester)
Paul Bristow (Conservative – Peterborough)
Sara Britcliffe (Conservative – Hyndburn)
Anthony Browne (Conservative – South Cambridgeshire)
Fiona Bruce (Conservative – Congleton)
Felicity Buchan (Conservative – Kensington)
Alex Burghart (Conservative – Brentwood and Ongar)
Rob Butler (Conservative – Aylesbury)
Andy Carter (Conservative – Warrington South)
William Cash (Conservative – Stone)
Miriam Cates (Conservative – Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Maria Caulfield (Conservative – Lewes)
Alex Chalk (Conservative – Cheltenham)
Jo Churchill (Conservative – Bury St Edmunds)
Theo Clarke (Conservative – Stafford)
Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative – Bassetlaw)
Chris Clarkson (Conservative – Heywood and Middleton)
James Cleverly (Conservative – Braintree)
Thérèse Coffey (Conservative – Suffolk Coastal)
Damian Collins (Conservative – Folkestone and Hythe)
Alberto Costa (Conservative – South Leicestershire)
Robert Courts (Conservative – Witney)
Claire Coutinho (Conservative – East Surrey)
Virginia Crosbie (Conservative – Ynys Môn)
James Daly (Conservative – Bury North)
Gareth Davies (Conservative – Grantham and Stamford)
Mims Davies (Conservative – Mid Sussex)
Dehenna Davison (Conservative – Bishop Auckland)
Caroline Dinenage (Conservative – Gosport)
Sarah Dines (Conservative – Derbyshire Dales)
Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative – Huntingdon)
Leo Docherty (Conservative – Aldershot)
Michelle Donelan (Conservative – Chippenham)
Nadine Dorries (Conservative – Mid Bedfordshire)
Julian Lewis (Conservative – New Forest East)
Chris Loder (Conservative – West Dorset)
Oliver Dowden (Conservative – Hertsmere)
Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative – Thurrock)
Flick Drummond (Conservative – Meon Valley)
David Duguid (Conservative – Banff and Buchan)
Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative – Chingford and Woodford Green)
Ruth Edwards (Conservative – Rushcliffe)
Michael Ellis (Conservative – Northampton North)
Natalie Elphicke (Conservative – Dover)
Luke Evans (Conservative – Bosworth)
David Evennett (Conservative – Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Ben Everitt (Conservative – Milton Keynes North)
Michael Fabricant (Conservative – Lichfield)
Laura Farris (Conservative – Newbury)
Simon Fell (Conservative – Barrow and Furness)
Katherine Fletcher (Conservative – South Ribble)
Mark Fletcher (Conservative – Bolsover)
Nick Fletcher (Conservative – Don Valley)
Liam Fox (Conservative – North Somerset)
Lucy Frazer (Conservative – South East Cambridgeshire)
Mike Freer (Conservative – Finchley and Golders Green)
Marcus Fysh (Conservative – Yeovil)
Mark Garnier (Conservative – Wyre Forest)
Nusrat Ghani (Conservative – Wealden)
Nick Gibb (Conservative – Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Peter Gibson (Conservative – Darlington)
Jo Gideon (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent Central)
John Glen (Conservative – Salisbury)
Richard Graham (Conservative – Gloucester)
Helen Grant (Conservative – Maidstone and The Weald)
Chris Green (Conservative – Bolton West)
Andrew Griffith (Conservative – Arundel and South Downs)
Kate Griffiths (Conservative – Burton)
James Grundy (Conservative – Leigh)
Jonathan Gullis (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent North)
Robert Halfon (Conservative – Harlow)
Luke Hall (Conservative – Thornbury and Yate)
Stephen Hammond (Conservative – Wimbledon)
Mark Harper (Conservative – Forest of Dean)
Rebecca Harris (Conservative – Castle Point)
Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative – Hastings and Rye)
John Hayes (Conservative – South Holland and The Deepings)
James Heappey (Conservative – Wells)
Darren Henry (Conservative – Broxtowe)
Antony Higginbotham (Conservative – Burnley)
Richard Holden (Conservative – North West Durham)
Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative – Thirsk and Malton)
Philip Hollobone (Conservative – Kettering)
Paul Holmes (Conservative – Eastleigh)John Howell (Conservative – Henley)
Paul Howell (Conservative – Sedgefield)
Nigel Huddleston (Conservative – Mid Worcestershire)
Neil Hudson (Conservative – Penrith and The Border)
Eddie Hughes (Conservative – Walsall North)
Jane Hunt (Conservative – Loughborough)
Tom Hunt (Conservative – Ipswich)
Alister Jack (Conservative – Dumfries and Galloway)
Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative – Morley and Outwood)
Robert Jenrick (Conservative – Newark)
Caroline Johnson (Conservative – Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Gareth Johnson (Conservative – Dartford)
David Johnston (Conservative – Wantage)
Andrew Jones (Conservative – Harrogate and Knaresborough)
David Jones (Conservative – Clwyd West)
Marcus Jones (Conservative – Nuneaton)
Simon Jupp (Conservative – East Devon)
Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative – Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Alicia Kearns (Conservative – Rutland and Melton)
Gillian Keegan (Conservative – Chichester)
Julian Knight (Conservative – Solihull)
Danny Kruger (Conservative – Devizes)
Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative – Spelthorne) (Proxy vote cast by Stuart Andrew)

John Lamont (Conservative – Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Andrea Leadsom (Conservative – South Northamptonshire)
Andrew Lewer (Conservative – Northampton South)
Mark Logan (Conservative – Bolton North East)
Marco Longhi (Conservative – Dudley North)
Julia Lopez (Conservative – Hornchurch and Upminster)
Jack Lopresti (Conservative – Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Rachel Maclean (Conservative – Redditch)
Kit Malthouse (Conservative – North West Hampshire)
Anthony Mangnall (Conservative – Totnes)
Julie Marson (Conservative – Hertford and Stortford)
Theresa May (Conservative – Maidenhead)
Jerome Mayhew (Conservative – Broadland)
Paul Maynard (Conservative – Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Karl McCartney (Conservative – Lincoln)
Stephen McPartland (Conservative – Stevenage)
Mark Menzies (Conservative – Fylde)
Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative – South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Robin Millar (Conservative – Aberconwy)
Maria Miller (Conservative – Basingstoke)
Nigel Mills (Conservative – Amber Valley)
Andrew Mitchell (Conservative – Sutton Coldfield)
Gagan Mohindra (Conservative – South West Hertfordshire)
Damien Moore (Conservative – Southport)
Robbie Moore (Conservative – Keighley)
Penny Mordaunt (Conservative – Portsmouth North)
Anne Marie Morris (Conservative – Newton Abbot)
James Morris (Conservative – Halesowen and Rowley Regis)
Joy Morrissey (Conservative – Beaconsfield)
Jill Mortimer (Conservative – Hartlepool)
Wendy Morton (Conservative – Aldridge-Brownhills)
Kieran Mullan (Conservative – Crewe and Nantwich)
Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative – Scunthorpe)
David Mundell (Conservative – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)Sheryll Murray (Conservative – South East Cornwall)
Andrew Murrison (Conservative – South West Wiltshire)
Robert Neill (Conservative – Bromley and Chislehurst)
Lia Nici (Conservative – Great Grimsby)
Neil O’Brien (Conservative – Harborough)
Guy Opperman (Conservative – Hexham)
Neil Parish (Conservative – Tiverton and Honiton)
Owen Paterson (Conservative – North Shropshire)
Mark Pawsey (Conservative – Rugby)
Mike Penning (Conservative – Hemel Hempstead)
John Penrose (Conservative – Weston-super-Mare)Chris Philp (Conservative – Croydon South)
Christopher Pincher (Conservative – Tamworth)
Dan Poulter (Conservative – Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Rebecca Pow (Conservative – Taunton Deane)
Victoria Prentis (Conservative – Banbury)
Mark Pritchard (Conservative – The Wrekin)
Tom Pursglove (Conservative – Corby)
Will Quince (Conservative – Colchester)
Tom Randall (Conservative – Gedling)
John Redwood (Conservative – Wokingham)
Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative – North East Somerset)
Nicola Richards (Conservative – West Bromwich East)
Angela Richardson (Conservative – Guildford)
Laurence Robertson (Conservative – Tewkesbury)Mary Robinson (Conservative – Cheadle)
Douglas Ross (Conservative – Moray)
Lee Rowley (Conservative – North East Derbyshire)
Dean Russell (Conservative – Watford)
David Rutley (Conservative – Macclesfield)
Gary Sambrook (Conservative – Birmingham, Northfield)
Selaine Saxby (Conservative – North Devon)
Paul Scully (Conservative – Sutton and Cheam)
Bob Seely (Conservative – Isle of Wight)
Andrew Selous (Conservative – South West Bedfordshire)
Grant Shapps (Conservative – Welwyn Hatfield)
Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative – Elmet and Rothwell)
Chris Skidmore (Conservative – Kingswood)
Chloe Smith (Conservative – Norwich North)
Greg Smith (Conservative – Buckingham)
Henry Smith (Conservative – Crawley)
Julian Smith (Conservative – Skipton and Ripon)
Royston Smith (Conservative – Southampton, Itchen)
Ben Spencer (Conservative – Runnymede and Weybridge)
Mark Spencer (Conservative – Sherwood)
Alexander Stafford (Conservative – Rother Valley)
Andrew Stephenson (Conservative – Pendle)
Jane Stevenson (Conservative – Wolverhampton North East)
Bob Stewart (Conservative – Beckenham)
ain Stewart (Conservative – Milton Keynes South)
Mel Stride (Conservative – Central Devon)
Graham Stuart (Conservative – Beverley and Holderness)
Julian Sturdy (Conservative – York Outer)
James Sunderland (Conservative – Bracknell)
Desmond Swayne (Conservative – New Forest West)
Robert Syms (Conservative – Poole)
Maggie Throup (Conservative – Erewash)
Edward Timpson (Conservative – Eddisbury)
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative – North Swindon)
Michael Tomlinson (Conservative – Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Craig Tracey (Conservative – North Warwickshire)
Laura Trott (Conservative – Sevenoaks)
Tom Tugendhat (Conservative – Tonbridge and Malling)
Shailesh Vara (Conservative – North West Cambridgeshire)
Martin Vickers (Conservative – Cleethorpes)
Matt Vickers (Conservative – Stockton South)
Christian Wakeford (Conservative – Bury South)
Robin Walker (Conservative – Worcester)
Charles Walker (Conservative – Broxbourne)
David Warburton (Conservative – Somerton and Frome)
Matt Warman (Conservative – Boston and Skegness)
Giles Watling (Conservative – Clacton)
Suzanne Webb (Conservative – Stourbridge)
Helen Whately (Conservative – Faversham and Mid Kent)
Heather Wheeler (Conservative – South Derbyshire)
John Whittingdale (Conservative – Maldon)
James Wild (Conservative – North West Norfolk)
Craig Williams (Conservative – Montgomeryshire)
Gavin Williamson (Conservative – South Staffordshire)
Mike Wood (Conservative – Dudley South)
William Wragg (Conservative – Hazel Grove)
Jeremy Wright (Conservative – Kenilworth and Southam)
TELLER: Alan Mak (Conservative – Havant)
TELLER: Craig Whittaker (Conservative – Calder Valley)

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