Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, voted this week against a key amendment that had been agreed in the House of Lords about sewage being discharged into rivers and coastlines.
Bob Seely had previously expressed his concern about raw sewage being dumped into the Isle of Wight coastline as part of combined sewage overflows (CSO) following periods of heavy rain.
News OnTheWight has written to Bob Seely to find out why he chose the vote the way he did. We’ll update readers once we hear back.
Quigley: “The bloke is an arse”
Following the vote Isle of Wight council Labour councillor, Richard Quigley told News OnTheWight,
“Bob has voted against every amendment to the Environment Bill, one of which was aimed at improving water quality by stopping sewage outflows.
“He sat opposite me in a meeting with southern water and promised to table his own amendment to the bill, to protect the quality of water around our Island and wrote a press release saying such. The bloke is an arse. And you can quote me on that.”
Lowthion: Votes for sewage as well as talking about it
Vix Lowthion, Chair of the Isle of Wight Green Party, told News OnTheWight,
“We are used to Bob Seely talking absolute sewage, but now it’s been confirmed that he votes for sewage too.
“Not only that, but he also voted this week against bringing in a tougher air quality targets, and his government are refusing to agree with the House of Lords that we must declare a biodiversity and climate emergency.
“This Environment Bill is an incredibly important piece of post-Brexit legislation, which Greens in the House of Lords have been influential in shaping, and I am astonished that our MP is throwing aside this vital opportunity to prioritise protection for our rivers, beaches, countryside and wildlife in this way.
“For too many days this year, Islanders have been unable to swim in the sea safely as raw sewage is being discharged off our beaches. One hundred days ago, Southern Water were fined a massive £90million for dumping sewage into the environment. And now we have an MP who refuses to legislate to stop it happening again.
“The Island deserves a lot better than an MP with the appalling voting record of Mr Seely.”
Bacon: “What were you thinking?”
In an Open Letter to the MP, Cabinet member for the Environment, Cllr Jonathan Bacon said,
“Your vote runs wholly and totally against the undertakings you made in a meeting we recently both attended designed to call Southern Water to account for recent perceived failings in the management of our water infrastructure.
“What were you thinking?
“Please tell us, as I and many residents of the Isle of Wight would appreciate an explanation as to why you took this course of action. And it better be good!”
