Topical Questions

Question

The Secretary of State may know that I am a passionate white water kayaker and a firm believer in the healing power of time spent in, on and around water. England and Wales have some of the most restrictive rights of access anywhere in the world; less than 4% of inland waterways have an uncontested public right of navigation. Can the Secretary of State say a bit more about when her Department will bring forward the Green Paper on access to nature?

Question

May I, too, wish Sir David Attenborough a belated happy 100th birthday and congratulate Hawkstone Farmers' Choir on winning “Britain's Got Talent”? They are both best in show. After a year of dither, delay and record farm closures, the new sustainable farming incentive scheme will finally start at the end of this month. How much money has the Secretary of State budgeted for the June and September phases of her scheme?

Question

Sorry—the Government have just published the documentation for a scheme that starts in the three weeks' time, but the Secretary of State cannot tell us how much of her budget is being spent on it. Then again, we know that Labour is the party of “Who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?” From the family farm and the family business taxes to the fertiliser tax, business rates and national insurance hikes, why should hard-working farmers, pub landlords, rural businesses and communities be pushed to the brink to pay for Labour's ballooning benefits bill?

Question

Farmers in my constituency are concerned about tariff suspensions and the Government's need to strike a balance between quite rightly reducing costs, and protecting and actively encouraging domestic production capacity. What discussions is the Minister having with Treasury Ministers about the principles and direction of travel of future tariff suspensions to ensure that domestic production is not harmed, but is in fact encouraged?

Question

Even ahead of the global instability this spring, the Labour rural research group was calling for a spring push on farm profitability. Since then, our Government have announced a review of the regulation that farmers face and brought the Groceries Code Adjudicator back in-house at DEFRA to help level the playing field for British farmers. Can the Minister tell me what is next for our mission to get British farmers' operating profitability back to where it should be?

Question

In Dewsbury and Batley, Yorkshire Water has dumped sewage for more than 1,597 hours so far this year, exceeding the confirmed total sewage pollution for 2025. Yet the Environment Agency has not completed any prosecutions against water companies for sewage dumping committed in the past five years. What exactly in this system constitutes effective enforcement and accountability, and what are this Government doing right now to strengthen it?

Question

I am concerned about the costs of cleaning up forever chemicals, which run into huge amounts annually. Does the Minister agree that polluters should foot the bill for remediation? Can the “polluter pays” principle be included in the clean water Bill?

Question

I want to ensure that the UK's right to diverge on the basis of its own scientific assessments is maintained. Can the Secretary of State give reassurance that this autonomy will be retained in future deals?

Question

I am seeking assurance that the Joint Unit for Waste Crime can access both permit return data to the Environment Agency and landfill tax returns from HMRC, so that fraudulent activities can be identified more effectively. Will you meet me to discuss issues at the Hespin Wood landfill site?

Question

Following the designation of the River Thames at Ham and Kingston as a bathing water area, does the Secretary of State think that Thames Water's proposals to pump treated sewage into the river downstream are compatible with this new status?

Question

Given that over 80% of the world's cut daffodils come from Cornwall and the industry relies entirely on seasonal workers, can Ministers help me lobby the Home Office for a rolling two-year scheme to be announced no later than October each year?

Question

Given the risk of extinction for many species dependent on chalk streams, can the Minister outline what steps the Department is taking to protect against biodiversity loss?

Question

Given that my hon. Friends' efforts to clean up waterways could be undermined by the planned closure of a biomass plant, and with more than 500,000 tonnes of poultry litter at risk of being spread on land, will my hon. Friend meet me to discuss how we can prevent this from happening?