Speeches by Reynolds.

“I am delighted to lead the first all-woman ministerial team in a UK Department of State. My focus as the new Secretary of State is delivering the Government’s No. 1 mission of economic growth, while restoring our natural environment. I have four big priorities: cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas; backing British fa…”

“This is a highly sensitive issue. The reasons for somebody taking their life are often very complex, and my heart goes out to every family devastated by these events. I am not willing to make political points on this issue.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his doughty campaigning on this issue. We are already taking forward secondary legislation to ban plastic wet wipes, which are a major source of pollution in our waterways. As I have said previously, this Government are taking decisive action to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. We will pu…”

“I am delighted to be at these questions for the first time, but I must say that the Conservatives have some brass neck. Under their Government, they could not even be bothered to spend the farming budget. We have got more Government money into the hands of farmers than ever before, and a record number of farmers are in…”

“Like the hon. Member, I am appalled by this plastic pollution incident, which affects his constituency, nearby constituencies and Camber Sands. We are holding Southern Water to account. There needs to be a thorough investigation of what happened, and as has been said by the Minister with responsibility for water and fl…”

“I live in a rural area, represent a semi-rural seat, and have 89 farms in my constituency. I understand the pressures that farmers are under, but the catastrophic mistake made by the previous Government was that they could not even be bothered to spend the farming budget. We have put more Government money in the hands …”

“Under the previous Government, water bosses awarded themselves over £112 million in bonuses. Thanks to this Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, water company bosses who pollute our waterways have been blocked from receiving millions of pounds in unfair bonuses for the past financial year.”

“I thank the hon. Member for his question, and I look forward to working with him on this issue. We will look at pre-pipe solutions in the forthcoming White Paper, which I look forward to discussing with him when we publish it.”

“I would have to be satisfied that one of those conditions were met to take that step.”

“I always agree with my Ministers, and I think she has been in touch since with setting out the detail on this. This is quite a tricky area. There are two legal circumstances in which you can have special administration, and they are tightly defined in law.”

“Yes. The Government expects water companies to comply not only with the letter, but also with the spirit of the law that we passed earlier this year. As you know, that is that those in executive decision-making positions in a water company that is polluting our waterways—CEOs, CFOs—should not get bonuses.”

“I do not think that anyone is suggesting that. We are carefully considering the consortium’s proposal. That is a very sensitive stage, and I cannot get into the detail of any of that.”

“Thames Water and other water companies know what their legal obligations are and the regulators will hold them to account for that.”

“All water companies must meet their legal obligations to both their customers and the environment. Top of mind for the issue with Thames Water is making sure that customers get a fair deal and better outcomes. We are working closely with Ofwat on the consortium’s proposals. I cannot go into any detail about it, as you …”

“I thank the Committee for the report, and I know that Minister Hardy came before you recently. We are still developing the White Paper, but it is broad in scope, and it will set out the direction of travel for the Government in response to the Independent Water Commission. It will lay the ground for the Bill that will …”

“They need to comply with the law at all times, and have legal obligations in this regard, so the Environment Agency will be holding them to that.”

“I need to wait for the investigation from the Environment Agency as it is its responsibility, but we will be looking in detail at what they uncover and asking some of the same questions that you are rightly asking.”

“As you know, we have banned bonuses for water company bosses found to be polluting our waterways through the Water (Special Measures) Act.”

“Absolutely unacceptable, indeed.”

“Yes, it is shocking and it is extremely disappointing. I put on the record my thanks to you, as ever, for being such a doughty representative for your area, but also to the volunteers who have been helping the cleaning up. We need to learn from this. I know that the Environment Agency it is conducting an investigation,…”