Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Olney Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my right hon. Friend entirely. We know this because not only has the Leader of the Opposition opposed the scheme, but he has been clear that even when the scheme is implemented and working, he would still scrap it. That tells us everything we need to know: on this issue, Labour’s values are simply not those of the British people. There is only one party that is going to stop the boats: the Conservative party.

[Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)]

Q10. On this Conservative Government’s watch, Thames Water has dumped over 72 billion litres of sewage into London’s rivers, all while racking up multi-billion-pound debts, and it is now reported that Thames Water could go bust any day. Despite this, the Government are still refusing to publish their contingency plans for the collapse of our country’s biggest water firm. Does the Prime Minister believe that Thames Water will still exist by the end of the year—yes or no?

[The Prime Minister]

It would not be right for me to comment on individual companies, but what I can say is that our ambitious storm overflow reduction plan is backed by £60 billion of capital investment. We now monitor every single storm overflow across England, and we have legislated to introduce unlimited penalties on water companies that breach their obligations. The independent regulator and the Environment Agency have the powers they need to hold water companies, wherever they are, to account.