MP defends vote on sewage in rivers

Hertford & Stortford constituency MP Julie Marson has defended her decision to vote against legislation that would have stopped water companies dumping raw sewage into rivers.

Following the vote in parliament, Ms Marson said that "there is a lot of misinformation floating about" on the issue and while the proposal itself was "sound", its "fundamental flaw" was that it "had no plan as to how this can be delivered and no impact assessment whatsoever".

She wrote: "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."

Conservative MPs were instructed to vote against the Lords' amendment that would have cracked down on water companies  discharging raw sewage in to local rivers. Government ministers said the changes were unnecessary because safeguards are already contained in the Environment Bill that is currently going through parlaiment.

A Government press release claims the bill "will clean up the country's air, restore natural habitats and increase biodiversity.

"The bill will also outline how the government will reduce waste, make better use of resources, and improve management of water resources in a changing climate.

"The bill will crack down on water companies that discharge sewage into rivers and will include a world-leading legally-binding species target for 2030, aiming to halt the decline of nature and to protect beloved British animals, such as red squirrels and hedgehogs."

Water companies discharged raw sewage into rivers in England more than 400,000 times last year, according to figures published by the Environment Agency.

Ms. Marson's full statement on the vote can be read here.