This week, a large group of constituents have been in touch with me to express their concern over the possible closure of Porton Down’s campus nursery, Hickory House.

I know a lot of workers with rare expertise in their fields return to highly skilled jobs with confidence, knowing that their children are close by and well cared for.

Sharing information with neighbouring MPs and the local ward councillor, Rich Rogers, I have taken up the case with UKHSA leadership.

I am grateful to have received prompt assurances that the situation is on senior management’s radar and being reviewed at the highest level.

I will monitor developments and hope a workable solution can be found for those who rely on Hickory House.

The past week has brought an influx of emails about a House of Commons vote on sewage discharges that took place back in 2021.

Extinction Rebellion made the vote the subject of their latest campaign.

Read more: Extinction Rebellion fight to raise awareness of raw sewage in rivers 

Although I didn’t see their ‘blue plaque’ affixed to my office door, as it had already been removed by a well wisher by the time it came to my attention, I am happy to have a chance to explain again what really happened.

I did NOT vote in favour of sewage dumping, as has been claimed. However, I did vote against just one specific amendment calling for an instant total ban on sewage entering rivers. Such a ban was impossible to achieve and therefore nonsensical to vote for. The total upgrade of our sewers to make them impervious to rain is a project that will take several decades to complete.

In the meantime, if heavy rain caused any part of the system to flood, the alternative to managed discharges would be to allow sewage to rise up through manhole covers and into our homes and streets, from whence it would contaminate groundwater and get into our waterways anyway.

I could not vote for a public health catastrophe that would also have utterly failed to achieve the aim of protecting rivers.

But ministers have made it clear to water companies that discharging sewage to disguise inadequate maintenance of the sewer system is unacceptable. It produced plans to revolutionise how water companies operate, which I was delighted to vote for. They now face strict legal limits on when they can use storm overflows and must completely eliminate any harm caused to the environment. I would also note that the only reason we now know precisely when and where discharges happen is because of government legislation. I hope all those who have written to me on the subject agree that transparency is an important step towards holding polluters to account.