Ben Maguire

I will address the water review in a moment. I am pleased that the Government are finally looking at this issue in detail, and crucially, as the hon. Member says, consulting, which is so important. As I said, I have lost count of the constituents who have told me that they have stopped swimming or surfing in our oceans for fear of getting sick from the contaminated water. Imagine the immense effect of that on our tourist industry in Cornwall and the south-west, which has been the envy of the country. Sewage spills are wrecking not only our health but vital local businesses. Surfers Against Sewage has reported large increases in reports of people getting ill after entering the water. In the year to September 2022, there were 720 reports, double the number in the previous year. By September 2023, the number had rocketed to 1,924. It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I went surfing at Summerleaze beach in Bude just days before the election—not just because my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey) was standing next to me in a wetsuit and I wondered what stunt awaited me, but because there were visible signs of a sewage dump from earlier that day. It is not just our beaches that bear the brunt of sewage dumping but our rivers. Just today, Natural England confirmed that the River Camel remains in an unfavourable condition, and Cornwall Wildlife Trust cautioned me just this afternoon that our ecosystems and species are in grave danger if we do not urgently put a stop to this.