Stockton and Redcar MPs clash on sea sewage pollution

Today (Monday, August 22) there are five pollution warnings for beaches along the North East coast - including two in Redcar.

The alerts, which are among 40 currently in place in England and Wales, are due to storm sewage being discharged into the sea from sewer overflow.

Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham says 'its nothing short of a national scandal' that Government has not prevented water companies from polluting waterways.

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Last October, Ministers rejected a Lords amendment to the Government's Environmental Bill which called for a legal duty to be placed on water firms to reduce untreated sewage discharges.

Conservative MP for Redcar Jacob Young

North East Conservative MPs including Redcar MP Jacob Young and Hartlepool's Jill Mortimer were among the 268 Tory MPs to vote against the amendment, prompting an angry response from some constituents and environmental campaigners.

In response to the backlash, the Government proposed its own amendment, telling water firms they "must secure a progressive reduction in the adverse harm" caused by sewage dumps.

Following the pollution alerts issued in his constituency, Jacob Young has faced criticism on social media, with one Twitter user even superimposing his image over that of a pipe pumping raw sewage into the sea.

Former Redcar Labour MP Anna Turley took to Twitter to say that the Conservative Government has had 12-years to sort out the issue and stated that Mr Young 'had the chance eight-months-ago to vote to stop this'

Redcar is among the North East beaches under a water pollution warning Picture: Alexa Fox

But Mr Young told The Northern Echo that the original amendment was 'unworkable' and the Government has since imposed 'more protections against water pollution than ever before'.

The Conservative MP also accused Labour of 'playing politics'.

He said: "There are a lot of untruths being thrown around about this, all of which fall at a moment's scrutiny.

"Of course we did not vote to put raw sewage into our waterways.

"The amendment we voted against was a proposal to completely ban storm overflows - a completely unworkable suggestion that would have resulted in sewage backing up into our homes, streets and fields while potentially costing the Government more than the entire response to Covid-19.

"The Government’s Environment Act has put in place more protections against water pollution than ever before.

Map published by Surfers against Sewage showing the areas under a pollution alert

"And the fact is that, thanks to the measures brought in by the Government, significant penalties have already been handed out to water companies discharging unacceptable amounts of sewage into our rivers."

He pointed out that last year Southern Water received a record-breaking £90m fine, while Thames Water was handed £4m and £2.3m fines for separate incidents.

He added: "The Government will hold underperforming companies to account, and is already taking direct action to deliver reductions in the harm caused by storm overflows through our new Environment Act.

“Labour are yet again showing that they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, and are simply playing politics.”

But Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham, who recently called a Westminster debate about the crustacea washup and ongoing pollution concerns on Teesside beaches, is scathing about the Government's handling of the sewage issue.

Alex Cunningham, Labour MP for Stockton North

He said: “While water companies are paying out a fortune in dividends and bonuses, the Conservative Government has allowed them to cut corners and pump filthy raw sewage into our waters.

"This is nothing short of a national scandal that is hurting our coastlines, ruining people's holidays, and causing misery to many businesses reliant on tourism.

“Locally we already have the major issue of crustacean die-offs and the impact this is having on the fishing industry – our fishermen and women don’t need this extra stress when they are already worrying about making ends meet.

“It’s high time the water companies, supported by the Conservatives, stopped putting profit before the environment and sorted this issue out once and for all.”

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