Elected to represent the Ludlow constituency in 2005, the Right Honourable Philip Dunne MP is to step down at the next election. In the last few years Dunne has proved himself one of the best chairs of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), which has been challenging the government and privatised industries on their environment record and their progress towards zero carbon. In its groundbreaking report on sewage outflows into rivers and seas, EAC recommended ending sewage outflows by 2030. But Dunne subsequently voted against a 2030 deadline and has instead supported the government’s weak target of 2050. There will be mixed views on his success as a constituency MP. Despite his earlier role as a councillor on South Shropshire District Council, in recent times he has become more distant from his constituency.
Tag: Dunne
Philip Dunne should stop politicising sewage dumping
Ludlow MP Philip Dunne has done it again. Calling those who criticise his and his government’s weakness on sewage overflows “political”. It is never political to call out government failures and Dunne has spectacularly failed. Under the plans backed by Dunne, water companies only need to reduce the number of discharges by 2.2% a year and volume of discharges by 2.7% a year. That’s letting privatised water companies off the hook for 20 more years while people bath and swim in sewage. In his own Ludlow constituency, Seven Trent Water (STW) reduced dumps into rivers or the sea by 23% between 2021 and 2022. The hours of discharge were reduced by 32% (Top of the Poops). Water companies across England and Wales reduced the number of discharges by 6% and the volume by 11% between 2020 and 2021. Of course, some companies are not improving but all companies need strict […]
Philip Dunne voted for sewage pollution until 2050 – it’s sh*t
Sewage pollution in our rivers and seas has been in the headlines for a long while. Water companies have resisted cleaning up their act preferring to wait until 2050 until they halt the discharge of human waste every time it rains heavily (that’s called normal weather) or something breaks down. A couple of weeks ago, Philip Dunne voted against directing the water companies to stop sewage discharges by 2030, preferring to give the companies another 20 years. That’s 20 years in which the companies will continue to make large profits and pay their chief executives ever escalating rewards of more than £1 million a year. That’s 20 years during which the water companies will be allowed to slow their progress in reducing discharges to around one third of current progress. Meanwhile, the companies are hoisting charges to consumers by around 7.5%. They say it due to high energy prices but […]
Philip Dunne has no confidence in Boris Johnson – he should call for his resignation
Partygate. We are all fed up with it. Yet the events and the aftermath shredded have any bit of credibility that Boris Johnson had left. Faced with continual calls for his resignation, Boris Johnson has today watered down the ministerial code to ensure that ministers can avoid resigning if they break the ministerial code. Ludlow MP Philip Dunne has not been a challenging critic of the Conservative government or Boris Johnson. But in an email sent to several constituents, he makes it clear that he believes that Boris Johnson is no longer fit to prime minister. “I am sorry to say any benefit of the doubt the PM enjoyed has now been eroded. While I have not called for his resignation, the PM has yet to prove to me that he is the right person to ensure the return of integrity and due decorum, that all our constituents expect from […]
Covid Watch 139: Government tells councils they must meet in public after May local elections – that is neither practical or safe
Local councils have been meeting online during the pandemic. After a few teething problems, the practice of meeting online has worked well. But yesterday the government declared councils must meet in public after 7 May. Many councillors think this is too early. A good many councils, including Ludlow Town Council and Shropshire Council, do not have suitable buildings to accommodate all their councillors, let alone members of the public, while social distancing remains in place. Will any councillors or members of the public want to attend the cramped Ludlow Town Council meeting in the Guildhall on 24 May? Or the Shropshire Council meeting four days earlier, with its 74 councillors and at least 25 officers and public attending in a chamber set out like a university lecture hall? This is retrograde move that will reduce the effectiveness of local democracy. Not for once, ministers are out of touch with reality. […]