Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 July 2026
18 contributions
State of Climate and Nature
With permission, I would like to make a statement about the nature and climate crisis. Nature is the monopoly provider of everything we need to live. We are living through the Anthropocene, an age where human activity is now the dominant influence on our planet’s climate and ecosystems. We are seein…
I am disappointed by the nature and tone of the hon. Gentleman’s response to our attempts to right some of the wrongs left behind by the previous Government.
The hon. Gentleman asked in particular about the Planning and Infrastructure Act. What we have done through that Act is introduce strategic p…
+16 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
9 July 2026
4 contributions
Topical Questions
Our waste collection systems are completely different from those in Germany and France, where they have a wide network of bring banks for glass. We have the privilege of having glass collected in our household waste collection schemes. I am conscious of the dual burden that is falling on pubs, and I…
As we push the waste criminals out of the sector, there will be more business for legitimate operators. That also means that the carrier registration number has to be carried on the Facebook ads, leaflets and vans of waste transporters, so that householders have confidence that the people we are giv…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
9 July 2026
4 contributions
Waste Crime Action Plan
Since publishing the waste crime action plan in March, we have started clearing illegal waste at Kidlington, and we are investigating clearing up sites in Wigan, Sheffield and Hyndburn. We have arrested 18 waste criminals, launched the digital waste tracking scheme, so that we can see where the wast…
My hon. Friend is right that, under the previous Government, there was a large amount of illegally dumped waste—about 30,000 tonnes between 2018 and 2022. Enforcement action is being taken by Medway council through a planning enforcement notice, using planning powers to remove the existing illegal b…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
6 July 2026
9 contributions
Environmental Protection
I beg to move,
That the draft Environmental Permitting (Waste Controlling or Transporting) and Relevant Functions of Primary Authorities (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026, which were laid before this House on 20 May, be approved.
It is a pleasure to be here on this hot and sultry evening. Des…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We inherited a bit of a “pass the parcel” system: “Who is the landowner? Who is the local authority? What is the size of the dump? Is it permitted or not?” That means that waste criminals can fall between the cracks and that there is effectively impunity. We have …
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
18 June 2026
River Otter: Sewage Pollution
It is a pleasure to respond to this afternoon’s debate on behalf of my colleague the Water Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), who is sadly unable to be with us because she is attending an international conference on the marine environment. I…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
16 June 2026
3 contributions
Draft Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I begin by wishing my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North a happy significant birthday, and I look forward t…
It is a pleasure to respond to that short but pithy and valuable debate. I am grateful to the Opposition spokesman, the hon. Member for Epping Forest, for his comments. He is beginning to remind me a bit of St Augustine, who was famous for his prayer of, “Grant me chastity, Oh Lord, but not yet”, be…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
9 June 2026
14 contributions
Draft Marine Licensing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment etc.) Order 2026
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Marine Licensing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment etc.) Order 2026.
What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship today, Sir John. I am very glad that the rain has managed to hold off so far, so let the summer begin.
The dra…
I do not have that figure to hand, but I am sure that the magic of the officials’ box will enable me to give the right hon. Member the figure by the end of the sitting—or perhaps he knows and can enlighten the Committee.
+12 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
4 June 2026
2 contributions
Global Biodiversity Loss and Ecosystem Collapse: National Security Assessment
I am getting a bit of a workout this morning bobbing up and down, Mr Speaker. The nature security assessment is a cross-Government strategic analysis designed to inform planning for potential shocks. It does not make predictions or set policy; it drives a more joined-up approach across Government by…
I have not seen the report that the hon. Gentleman is talking about, but I believe my hon. Friend the Minister for farming has seen it. In December, we published the 2025 environmental improvement plan, which sets out our ambition over the next five years to accelerate progress towards our targets u…
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
4 June 2026
3 contributions
Access to Nature
I thank my hon. Friend for all the work he did for us during his time in DEFRA. This Government are transforming access to nature in this country, delivering three new national forests and nine new national river walks, as well as launching the Wainwright coast-to-coast walk as a national trail in M…
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work he did on the protection of Widewater lagoon—holding the water on the land when it is raining and ensuring that it is there during very dry spells is one of the challenges we face. The coastal path will boost everybody’s mental and physical health, and wi…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
4 June 2026
3 contributions
Topical Questions
I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend. She is right to draw attention to the loss to the Exchequer from landfill tax fraud and evasion. Our Joint Unit for Waste Crime is made up of EA and HMRC staff, as well as other arms of law enforcement, to ensure that all intelligence sources are tapped in t…
We have just announced our largest budget ever for species protection and restoration. We have lots of exciting plans to introduce and reintroduce iconic species. I am particularly excited about the glutinous snail. It is extinct in England, but exists in Lake Bala in Wales. There will be all sorts …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
4 June 2026
3 contributions
Waste Crime
Our recent waste crime action plan delivers the toughest ever crackdown on criminality in the waste sector, and fixes the broken system that the Conservatives left behind. We have closed the loopholes that criminals relied on, boosted the Environment Agency with an extra £45 million for enforcement,…
I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for his question. I know about the issues around Coventry and Rugby, and I share his frustration at fly-tippers. Courts now have the powers to issue up to nine penalty points on fly-tippers’ driving licences, to ensure that they think twice before do…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
3 June 2026
4 contributions
Draft Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Amendment and Revocation) Regulations 2026
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Amendment and Revocation) Regulations 2026.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. The regulations were laid before the House in draft on 19 March. They make targeted but importa…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his important points and for contributing to the debate. I say “citeez” and he says “cites”—let’s call the whole thing off. We will have to agree to differ on the pronunciation, but I will respond on to the important work that he cited. He rightly paid tribute to Borde…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 March 2026
3 contributions
Waste Crime: Knowsley
It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I have slightly more time than normal, so I hope that we can have a bit of discussion because I am absolutely passionate about tackling waste crime. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley (Anneliese Midgley) for se…
Understood. We are talking about Knowsley, and I am not the canals Minister, but I will take that back to the Department. I am sorry to do the DEFRA silos, but this is not the first time I have heard that. My hon. Friend makes a very good point.
I was talking about tyres, scrap metal and end-of-lif…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
The hon. Member is absolutely right, but in the last five years under the previous Government, incidents rose by 20%. We are encouraging councils to seize and crush the vehicles of fly-tippers, and we will be consulting on a conditional caution so that people who do fly-tip will pick up and pay up.
I agree that the environmental improvement plan that we inherited was not fit for purpose. We will oversee the largest ever investment in nature. We have banned bee-killing pesticides, licensed the first wild beaver release in England for 400 years, and announced the first new national forest for 30…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
4 contributions
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Sir Roger. For anyone who is unaware, I broke my wrist playing beach volleyball; the score was Germany 1, England nil—let us hope that is not repeated at the world cup this year. I thank all colleagues who have sent their good wishes.
I begin by…
I congratulate the mayor; he is a trailblazer both nationally and internationally through his climate and nature work. I know that Justin Beaver and his wife—I cannot remember her name, but it is a similarly cringeworthy pun—are living happily ever after. Actually, I do not know whether beavers live…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
6 contributions
Woodland Creation
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell, and what a lovely debate we have had. It has not been the best part of my week—that was releasing a mother beaver and her three kids on the National Trust’s Holnicote estate in Somerset yesterday—but it has been the second best. We have had …
She is standing in—very good. However, I gently say to her that while trees have a key role to play, we have done six interest rate cuts, and inflation is set to come in on target, so the economic plan certainly seems to be going much better than it was in the days of Liz Truss.
Let us talk about w…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
4 contributions
Topical Questions
We have a system. Methane-reducing food products, including seaweed, oils and synthetic products such as Bovaer, are a key tool in reducing emissions from agriculture by up to one third. Bovaer is approved for use in 70 countries, including those in the EU, Switzerland, the US, Canada and Australia.…
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her tireless campaigning on that disgraceful site. The Environment Agency has served a notice requiring the operator to reduce the risk of smells, and the deadline is 9 February. We expect the operator to comply. If it does not, all options, including suspension a…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
21 January 2026
3 contributions
Antisocial Behaviour on Canals and Rivers: Bath
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this evening, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) on securing the debate and thank her for raising this important issue. I also thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his insightful intervention …
If the hon. Lady were to convene a regular set of meetings—say, quarterly—on this with the police, the local council and the CRT, I have found that the steady drumbeat of local accountability is very effective in bringing these partners together to tackle these issues, alongside the community of use…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
15 January 2026
Protection and Management of Young Trees
What a pleasure it is to stand in this glorious room panelled with English oak cut down in the wake of world war two to refurbish this great Chamber of democracy, and at this Dispatch Box, a gift from New Zealand crafted from its native puriri wood, which I see every time I stand here. I passionatel…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
4 contributions
Rural Communities
I am grateful to have the opportunity to close this debate. I have to say that even in the deep, bleak midwinter, I do not recognise the gloomy, barren landscape that Conservative Members have been describing. They describe a litany of disasters. If only they had been in government for the last 14 y…
I am not giving way, because I have only eight minutes to respond to the debate.
The Conservatives’ former Prime Minister explicitly said that there was a deliberate policy of taking money away from deprived inner-city areas and giving it to rural areas. This Government are cleaning up the mess tha…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
6 January 2026
6 contributions
River Cherwell: Clearing Illegal Waste
It is lovely to be here with you again to celebrate the new year, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wish you and all colleagues in the House a very happy new year. What a shame it is that we are starting it with the trash from last year.
As we have just celebrated Christmas and the holiday period, we will ha…
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s assiduousness on the issue of Walleys Quarry. That site is also now being run by the Environment Agency, and the risk of odour that his constituents were really grievously suffering is now extremely low, but that has come at a cost, as he rightly says.
This is noth…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 November 2025
6 contributions
Packaging: Extended Producer Responsibility
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) for securing the debate, and thank hon. Members from across the House who have made valuable contributions today. I am struck by the cross-party consensus. This is the first time…
I am going to make some progress, because otherwise we are never going to get through this.
We have already provided £340 million to local councils in England alone, in particular to bring in food waste collection. That is particularly important, because it will allow us to create green gas and dig…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 November 2025
Topical Questions
My hon. Friend is a passionate advocate for ensuring good air quality for residents of his constituency. We have published strict criteria for incineration projects, and will back only new waste incineration projects that meet strict conditions. I am happy to meet him to talk about the project in hi…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 November 2025
3 contributions
Food Waste
We are committed to tackling food waste and ensuring that food reaches those in greatest need. We have a new £15 million fund redistributing 19,000 tonnes of surplus food, and our simpler recycling reforms, which will come in from next March, will cut the amount of food waste sent to landfill. We ho…
Those are two absolutely brilliant green tech companies at the heart of my hon. Friend’s constituency. We are committed to halving food waste by 2030, and we support both those companies. Digital waste tracking will be in place from April 2026, and will be mandatory from October for waste receivers.…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 November 2025
2 contributions
Hunting Trophies
We are committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. My noble friend Baroness Hayman continues to engage with stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban.
Some 84% of the 44,000 respondents to the 2020 consultation supported a ban on all hunting trophies entering or leaving the UK. Five years later, it will fall to this Government to deliver what the previous Government promised. Timeframes for introducing that legislation will be provided once the pa…