Environment Secretary Steve Reed is the latest to become embroiled in Labour’s cronyism scandal after accepting football tickets worth nearly £2000 from a company with links to water pollution.
Mr Reed, the MP for Streatham and Croydon North, attended a Chelsea v Crystal Palace match in December 2023 after being invited by telecoms company Three, which is owned by CK Hutchison Holdings, a Cayman Islands company registered and listed in Hong Kong.
CK Hutchison Holdings owns 75 per cent of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, the owner of Northumbrian Water- one of several companies found guilty of dumping raw sewage in Britain’s waterways by regulator Ofwat.
An investigation found Northumbrian Water spilt sewage into England’s waterways for 280,000 hours in 2023, and the company has accepted it needs to do better to improve its record on pollution.
The match took place just three months after Mr Reed was named shadow environment secretary, with tickets and hospitality valued at £1,786, according to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
Mr Reed has previously condemned the sewage spillages as a ‘scandal’ and vowed to crack down on the water industry, threatening to block bonuses and introduce criminal charges for blocking investigations.
But his plans have been criticised by campaigners after the government ruled out nationalisation in favour of an additional £88 billion in investment for private water companies.
Ed Acteson, co-founder of the anti-sewage group SOS Whitstable, told the Telegraph: ‘That Steve Reed, then the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, accepted hospitality from a water company owner is extremely disappointing. Frankly, it is the latest question mark over an industry riddled with double standards and conflicts of interest.’
He added: ‘Mere weeks after attending this event, he was pledging to put water bosses “in the dock” for illegal releases.
‘How are we supposed to believe those words carried any sincerity when, at the same time, he was receiving blatantly inappropriate hospitality of this nature?’
The move comes at a time when senior government officials are facing heavy criticism over expensive ‘donations’ gifted to them by wealthy donors and private companies, including clothing, football and concert tickets and access to high-end properties.
A government spokesman told : ‘This story is complete nonsense. Steve has taken the toughest action against water companies of any minister in decades.
‘He’s imposing tough new special measures to ban polluting water bosses’ bonuses and make them face criminal charges if they keep breaking the law.’
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