The Rt. Hon Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt has occupied two of the four great Offices of State as well as having been the longest serving Secretary of State for Health. To this list he has now apparently added eco-warrior. As ever however his claims are undermined by his voting record in the House of Commons.
Let’s examine the record:
Jeremy Hunt’s claim: As Chancellor, “(I) ring fenced fines from Water Companies ensuring they are invested in improvements in our environment and waterways like the Wey.”
Jeremy Hunt’s voting record: The UK Environment Improvement Bill (25th January 2023) effectively licensed Water Authorities such as Thames Water to continue to release literally billions of litres of untreated sewage into our waterways. Hunt had three opportunities to vote against. He did not.
Jeremy Hunt’s record of action on polluted water.
In June 2023 thousands of Hunt’s South West Surrey constituents were without water for up to a week, many still await full compensation.
Hunt’s response some weeks later was to co-chair a (theoretically) public meeting at Surrey University (i.e. outside his constituency of South West Surrey) where representatives of Thames Water failed to explain why a relatively light storm had rendered their Shalford purification plant unable to treat the mass of pure sewage they had themselves put into the Wey & Tillingbourne Rivers.
What does all this mean? Outages and massive pollution of our rivers and bays are going to continue until the laws authorising the release of untreated sewage are changed. Jeremy Hunt has had three opportunities to vote against and has taken none.
A vote for Jeremy Hunt means more untreated sewage in our water.