Business of the House

Josh Dean Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I pay tribute to John and, indeed, his colleagues. I am sorry to hear of the devastating fire, but as my hon. Friend said, firefighters acted heroically to save Glasgow Central station and many of the historic buildings that surround it, and they contained the fire. I join her in paying tribute to John and all the crews at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for their work. I also place on the record my congratulations and thanks to my hon. Friend, whose work on behalf of Ukraine’s children was this week recognised, quite rightly, by the Ukrainian Government.

[Josh Dean (Hertford and Stortford) (Lab)]

I share my residents’ anger that a Thames Water site has reportedly released over 900 hours of sewage into the River Stort, one of our precious local chalk streams, since the start of the year. I have written to Thames Water and the Environment Agency to raise my community’s concerns about the lack of urgency in tackling sewage discharge. Will the Leader of the House join me in calling on Thames Water to take urgent action to protect our precious local chalk streams, and will he help to facilitate a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss this case in more detail?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

The Government are absolutely committed to cleaning up our waterways and protecting chalk streams. We have passed the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 and introduced the water White Paper, and the new water reform Bill will create the laws that we need to fundamentally change the system. I absolutely join my hon. Friend in calling on the Environment Agency and Thames Water to ensure that action is taken. I hope that they have heard his comments today. Should he seek a meeting with the relevant Minister to talk about these matters further, I will help him to facilitate it.