Last weekend, Extinction Rebellion (XR) carried out another pathetic political stunt in Ilkley. Alongside local Labour and Lib Dem activists, Extinction Rebellion continued to spread lies about the landmark action our government is taking to clean up our rivers.
Extinction Rebellion cannot be taken seriously considering they are the very same organisation that have stopped ambulances from reaching hospitals in carrying out their Climate Change protests.
So, letâs get the record straight.
No MP voted for sewage to be dumped into rivers.
As I have always made clear, it is disgusting, environmentally damaging and it needs to end.
The false information put out by Labour, the Lib Dems and their friends in Extinction Rebellion is deliberately designed to hide the truth â the truth that it was this Conservative Government that has taken the strongest action to date to tackle the problem of sewage discharge in our river system.
So, letâs be clear - this is a coordinated effort by the âLabour, Lib Dem and Extinction Rebellion Coalitionâ to spread misinformation.
1. The Context
These misleading attacks try to suggest that discharge into our rivers is a new phenomenon which has recently been "allowed" by the government - however, this is absolutely not the case.
Firstly, sewage overflows have been occurring in the UK since the Victorian era.
The practical problem is that across the UK there is just one system of pipes that takes both rainwater and sewerage from homes, rather than separate systems for rainwater and for sewerage. When there are storms, so much rainwater enters the sewerage system that it cannot be contained and needs to flow somewhere.
Preventing the discharge of untreated sewerage during storms is a major change to infrastructure in almost every town and village in the country. Some mitigations such as storm tanks can reduce discharges but donât usually eliminate them. We have witnessed this first-hand in Ilkley.
Measures to combat sewage discharges into our river systems have never been addressed until now. No previous Labour government has had the willpower to tackle this issue - with previous Labour governments turning a blind eye to this problem.
But now, this Conservative government has taken action to combat sewage discharge into rivers â and I am proud to have voted for the Environment Act which takes bold steps to tackle this issue.
2. What I voted for
I voted for the government's Environment Act, a comprehensive package of measures to eliminate the discharge of untreated sewerage into our rivers.
The measures which I voted for are as follows;
1. A new duty on Government to produce a statutory plan to reduce discharges from storm overflows and their adverse impact, and to report to Parliament on progress.
2. A requirement for Government to produce a new report setting out the actions that would be needed to eliminate discharges from storm overflows in England, and the costs and benefits of those actions.
3. A new duty directly on water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operation on an annual basis.
4. A new duty directly on water companies to publish near real time information on the operation of storm overflows.
5. A new duty directly on water companies to monitor the water quality upstream and downstream of storm overflows and sewage disposal works.
6. A new duty directly on water companies to produce comprehensive statutory Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans, setting out how they will manage and develop their drainage and sewerage system over a minimum 25-year planning horizon, including how storm overflows will be addressed through these plans.
7. New government powers to direct water companies in relation to these Plans if they do not sufficiently address Government priorities, such as storm overflows.
8. A duty on Government to set and achieve at least one new target to drive progress in the priority area of water.
These measures are all in addition to the below, which forms a significant package that the government had already instigated that are outside of the Environment Act;
1. The government have made their expectations crystal clear in their draft Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat. For the first time, the Government will be telling the industryâs economic regulator that they expect water companies to take steps to âsignificantly reduce storm overflowsâ and that the government expect funding to be approved for them to do so.
2. Between 2020 and 2025, water companies are directed to invest ÂŁ7.1 billion on environmental improvements in England. Of this, ÂŁ3.1 billion will be invested in storm overflows directly.
3. The government are reviewing the case for implementing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 in England, which would set mandatory build standards for sustainable drainage schemes on new developments.
4. The government have established a Storm Overflows Task Force to bring together key stakeholders from the water industry, environmental NGOs, regulators, and Government in order to drive progress in reducing sewage discharges.
Despite attempting to create a media frenzy on this issue, Labour, Green and Lib Dem MPs voted against the legally binding targets and measures enshrined in the act.
More than any other government before it, this Conservative government has taken action to combat sewage discharge into rivers. The severity of the sanctions and the extensive guarantees outlined in the actâwhich apply not only to water but also to biodiversity and air qualityâwere not proposed by any Labour government in the past.
3. About Me
Prior to becoming your MP, I worked for 12 years as a rural practice surveyor getting involved and advising on all sorts of agri-environmental stewardship agreements, moorland restoration projects, water quality improvement schemes and worked with the likes of Natural England and the Environment Agency to implement positive measures that would have huge environmental benefit.
And now as your MP, in Parliament, I sit on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, and I also was delighted to be on the Environment Bill Committee, charged with scrutinising and improving the Environment Bill as it worked its way through the House of Commons.
I merely outline the above only to illustrate that protecting the environment is something which I care deeply about and to highlight the absurdity of claims that I would ever vote to dump raw sewage into our beautiful rivers.
Robbie
