How Oxfordshire MPs voted on dumping sewage in rivers

Last week an amendment to the Environmental Bill was debated in the House of Commons.

The amendment, which was first put forward by the Duke of Wellington in the House of Lords, proposed forcing large companies, such as Thames Water, to ‘take all reasonable steps’ to avoid sewage overflowing into rivers.

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The plan, however, was voted down - MPs voted 268 to 204, majority 64 to place the new duty on water companies to reduce raw sewage discharges into rivers.

All four of Oxfordshire’s Conservative MPs (John Howell - Henley, Victoria Prentice – Banbury, David Johnson – Wantage, Robert Courts – Witney) voted against the amendment.

Labour Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds and Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran, both voted in favour of the plan.

The move has received backlash from environmental groups.

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Surfers Against Sewage have spoken out about accusations Government ministers have not stopped water companies from dumping raw sewage in rivers.

Hugo Tagholm, of the campaign group, said: “We were really disappointed that MPs failed to back the amendment to put a legal duty on water companies to stop raw sewage pouring into our rivers and our oceans.”

The River Trusts have now created a map which reveals whether our rivers are 'fit to play in' following sewage leaks.