Bracknell’s Conservative MP has hit back after being accused of being ‘clearly happy with sewage in our rivers’.
Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shenton – in charge of the environment portfolio at Wokingham Borough Council – levelled the application at three local Conservative MPs during a council meeting last week.
They included Wokingham MP Sir John Redwood, as well as Bracknell MP James Sunderland and Windsor MP Theresa May, whose constituencies overlap with parts of Wokingham borough.
Cllr Shenton said the three were responsible for blocking attempts to make water companies legally responsible for reducing harm caused by sewage discharge into rivers.
This is because a member of the House of Lords tried to add such laws into an environment bill in 2021, but the Conservative government voted it down.
“While the Lords attempted to address the discharges through amendment 45 during the passage through parliament of the environment act, the government chose to defeat the amendment and to maintain the status quo,” Cllr Shenton said.
“John Redwood, James Sunderland and Theresa May all voted against the Lords’ amendment. They are clearly happy with sewage in our rivers.”
But Mr Sunderland said it was ‘deluded’ to accuse the Conservatives of wanting sewage in rivers – and that the government voted against the amendment as it ‘would have broken our public finances’.
He claimed the government was introducing ‘the most robust legislation ever’ to regulate water companies – but simply blocking storm discharges would lead to sewage ‘backing up into people’s homes’.
“Before 2010, the pumping of raw sewage into our waterways was unmonitored, unregulated, and completely unrestricted. This Conservative Government is actually the first to properly tackle a complex and historical issue. To suggest otherwise is false,” he said.
Mr Sunderland also said he would support blocking bonuses and dividends paid to Thames Water bosses and shareholders to pay for investment in sewage works.
Sir John and Theresa May did not respond to requests for comment.
