Southport MP Damien Moore has defended his vote against an amendment to the Environment Bill that would have placed legal duties on the companies to reduce sewage being dumped into Britain’s rivers and streams.
Mr Moore says he has received “a flurry of abusive emails” over the issue.
An amendment proposed by the Lords was defeated by 265 MPs’ votes to 202 last week.
MPs say the measures contained within the amendment would have seen the cost passed onto consumers with significantly higher bills, and potentially force a significant single-issue tax rise, given that the government would also have to bear some of the responsibility for rebuilding Britain’s sewage network.
Critics of the vote have highlighted that water companies operating in Britain have distributed £57bn in shareholder dividends since 1991.
Mr Moore said via his Facebook page: “I recently supported the Government’s Environment Bill which helps to clean up our rivers and protect our environment. Since then, I’ve received a flurry of abusive emails from those who have, as often is the case, read the ‘expert’ opinion of others on Facebook.
“Last week, MPs voted on the Government’s Environment Bill which is a brilliant piece of new legislation which strengthens many of our existing environmental laws (I should know – I was the Private Parliamentary Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs when this piece of legislation was drafted).
“During the course of the debate, I voted against an uncosted amendment which would have seen households in Southport pay thousands of extra pounds in water bills – money which I know most families don’t have. This has seen many of the usual agitators suggest that ‘Tory MPs voted for raw sewage to be pumped into rivers!’ – a laughable, inaccurate and ridiculous claim which ignores the safeguards and work which is ongoing to protect our rivers and which I voted for as part of the Bill.
“I did not support the Lords’ section of amendment 45 for one very important reason. The age of our sewerage system means the complete elimination of storm overflows would be extremely challenging. Notably, initial assessments suggest elimination would cost between £150 – £660 billion. To put that in perspective, that is nearly £10,000 for every person in the United Kingdom. This would undoubtedly lead to customer bill increases and trade-offs against other water industry priorities.
“It could also be a huge liability for the taxpayer as government would ultimately be responsible for ensuring that this work would be carried out and would have to underwrite the cost. The threat that households could have faced huge increases in their bills if this amendment was approved was very real. I suspect that 99.99% of people wouldn’t support a huge increase in their water bills and I make no apology for voting this amendment down to protect working families.
“I did, however, vote to implement a number of new measures to address the harm caused by storm overflows, which you can read here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2593
“I hope this information is useful and reassures my constituents that clear and effective action is being taken to address storm overflows. I hope it also addresses the ridiculous suggestion that raw sewage will be visible from Southport’s pier!”
Mr Moore’s team also moved to address criticism raised by residents on social media over a perceived lack of reply to correspondence from constituents.
Responding to the claims, Mr Moore’s Chief Of Staff Daniel Dewhurst posted: “The suggestion that Damien – or his office – doesn’t respond to constituents’ emails is completely untrue. His office responds to every single email from a constituent, and we have a policy of responding to ‘casework’ matters urgently. We even respond to those constituents who are renowned for sending party-political emails – many of whom have posted messages on this thread – or those from websites such as 38 degrees.
“Damien also holds a weekly advice surgery at The Atkinson on Lord Street between 11:00 and 14:00 and he holds a weekly telephone surgery for constituents who cannot attend in person-surgeries. Again, to suggest he is unresponsive to constituents’ concerns is completely false. I know of few other MP’s who hold as many advice surgeries as Damien does.”
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