Committee publication · Correspondence · 23 May 2025

Letter to Sir Adrian Montague, Chair, Thames Water, in response to his letter of 19 May, dated 23 May

From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

Summary

The EFRA Committee Chair writes to Thames Water's Chair following his 13 May evidence session, pressing for clarification on claims he "may have misspoken" about financial matters. Carmichael demands precise answers on what was misspoken, when he realised it, and whether he was alerted by journalists or others, noting that accuracy of parliamentary evidence is fundamental to parliamentary privilege.

Key findings

Sir Adrian Montague claimed in his 19 May letter that he "may have misspoken" during his 13 May evidence to the committee on Thames Water's financial resilience.
The Committee Chair identifies the use of "may have" as problematic, requiring Montague to clarify definitively whether he misspoke and what he meant by the term.
Carmichael has identified "a couple of areas of concern" in the evidence transcript and asks Montague to review it and flag any further inaccuracies.
The Chair emphasises that accuracy of evidence given to select committees is "a matter of the highest possible importance" under parliamentary privilege laws.
Carmichael requests a full response by 5pm Friday 30 May, citing Parliament's recess week to allow careful consideration before the committee reconvenes 2 June.

Tone

Procedural

Topics

water-utilitiesparliamentary-privilegecorporate-governance

Key actors

Alistair Carmichael MP, Sir Adrian Montague, Thames Water, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, The Guardian

Notable line

“That evidence given to a select committee is accurate in every respect is a matter of the highest possible importance.”

Key Quotes

“That evidence given to a select committee is accurate in every respect is a matter of the highest possible importance.”
— Alistair Carmichael MP · Emphasising the seriousness of potential inaccuracies in parliamentary evidence

“I find the use of "may" in this context to be problematic. Only you can tell us whether you did misspeak or not.”
— Alistair Carmichael MP · Challenging Montague's qualified admission of misspeaking

“The "misspeaking" in this context is significant in the way in which it colours your evidence to the Committee so I would be grateful if you could clarify the point at which you realised that you had misspoken. Was this only when approached by the Guardian?”
— Alistair Carmichael MP · Questioning whether Montague only recognised the error after media contact

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗