Conservative Party accused of trying to ‘cover up’ sewage spills ahead of election

The environment secretary has accused the last Conservative government of trying to “cover up” the volume of sewage spills ahead of the election.

Speaking in environment, food and rural affairs questions on Thursday, Steve Reed said he wanted to make sure that “regulation is as tough as possible to ensure that practices and, frankly, abuses that were going on in the past can no longer happen”.

He added: “It was very disappointing when the shadow minister, when he was a minister, tried to cover up the extent of sewage spills before the election, telling Environment Agency officials not to put the key figures on the front page of the environmental portal.”

The comment led to an intervention from speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who said: “Can I just say, ‘he tried to cover up’, that’s suggesting that a member is lying.”

Reed responded: “I withdraw that comment, perhaps I should have said he could have been more open and transparent.”

The environment secretary’s comments came in response to shadow minister Robbie Moore, who pressed the government on whether it intended to offer “regulatory easement” to water companies, such as “permission to lower standards, relax environmental permits, or reduced agreed levels of investment”.

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