It has been an eventful week in Parliament with the appointment of a new Prime Minister and the creation of a new government. There are some extraordinary challenges facing our country as a result of the war in Ukraine and huge rise in energy prices and the new government will get to work immediately to agree next steps.
On a personal level, it is the end of my time as a government minister so I am returning to the backbenches where I will offer scrutiny. I have had a good innings so can’t really complain. I have been a Minister in DEFRA for nine years under three different Prime Ministers and for the final three years I have been in the Cabinet as we have wrestled with the global pandemic, and I have had to contend with multiple threats to the food supply chain during that extraordinary period.
There is never any job security in politics, and nothing lasts. I have always had the view that, whatever role you might end up with, you should recognise that you will likely have less time than you think and approach the task with that in mind. It means that you shouldn't put off difficult decisions but confront them and you should throw yourself at the role to inject momentum. It also means that you should not be thrown off course by attacks on social media, nor should you duck and dive to try to avoid the criticism that will inevitably follow every decision you take. It is far more important to know in your own heart that you did your utmost and that you did what you judged to be right whatever the political consequences.
As I reflect on my time in DEFRA, I am proud of the new legislation we introduced. The Agriculture Act created the legal framework for a new agriculture policy to replace the old Common Agricultural Policy from the EU. The Fisheries Act gave us the powers that we need to become an independent coastal state and manage our own waters again. The Environment Act enshrined a long-term approach to environmental delivery in law and we have developed multiple new targets to help nature recover, and I managed to deliver new legislation to protect animal welfare which has always been an issue close to my heart.
My final act as a Cabinet Minister was to deal with a rowdy debate in Parliament about storm overflows. These are a feature of our Victorian sewer system and no government during the 20th century acted to phase them out. It's a contentious issue and there are lots of lies on social media. I acted two years ago to address the problem which will drive relentless improvement in water quality for each of the next twenty-five years. There will be new investments over the next few years that will reduce the number of discharges by 25 per cent by 2025. It is the nature of Ministerial life that you get criticised for the consequences of others' past mistakes. What matters to me is to know in my own heart that I used my time to fix the problem, even though the benefits of that action will occur after my time as a Minister.
