It appears that Steve Reed OBE, the MP for Streatham (and can’t be arsed with Croydon North), is not as big a football fan as he has tried to make out.
Match of the day: Lois Davis was forced to take a cardboard cut-out of her MP to Selhurst Park last night
Reed, now the environment secretary in Keir Starmer’s Labour government, seemed more than happy to accept £1,786-worth of freebie VIP tickets for a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge in late 2023 when his hosts were Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, the owners of serial polluters Northumbrian Water.
But last night the MP failed to take up the offer from a pensioner living in his constituency of a free seat at FA Cup-winners’ Crystal Palace’s last home league of the season (Reed missed a good one, too: Palace beat Wolves 4-2).
When Reed failed to respond to constituent Lois Davis’s generous offer, she decided to take a cardboard cut-out of her MP instead.
Davis was not alone, however. She was accompanied to the match by public ownership campaigners from We Own It.
Together, they are crying foul over Reed’s all-too-cosy relationship with the water companies.
Posing with the cardboard cut-out of her MP, Davis called out Reed’s hypocrisy for accepting the water company’s matchday hospitality but failing to listen to his actual constituents.
“Steve Reed is my MP,” Davis told Inside Croydon.
“He also happens to be the environment secretary. I need to talk to him about the water sector crisis – but he’s not listening to me.
“I’ve written, petitioned, and protested to make him understand that private water doesn’t work and we need our water back in public hands. But he isn’t shifting.
“I thought the only way to get Steve to see sense on public ownership of water is to do what the private water companies have done: take him to a football match and bend his ear.
“He’ll gladly take hospitality from the water bosses, but seems to be ignoring his actual constituents, and the 82% of us who want water in public ownership. It’s obvious which team he’s playing for and it’s not us!”
Since his cosy get-together in corporate hospitality at Stamford Bridge, and becoming part of the government last summer, the environment secretary has ruled out public ownership of water, and even banned it from being discussed in his so-called “independent” water commission.
Making a stand: Lois Davis and We Own It’s Cat Hobbs (left) had a ticket for the environment secretary Steve Reed at last night’s Selhurst Park game
Meanwhile, Thames Water, one of the biggest culprits of hiking water bills and polluting our rivers, streams and waterways, have been allowed to take a £3billion financial bail-out, yet still pay massive bonuses to their bosses – all at the public’s expense.
Matthew Topham, from We Own It, said: “Government ministers have 23 times as many meetings with corporate lobbyists as they do with consumer groups and charities.
“We know that Steve Reed has been ‘wined and dined’ in the past by a company linked to Northumbrian Water.
“Sometimes it feels like whoever has the most cash gets the most access. We thought we’d try the lobbyists’ tactic and dole out some football hospitality of our own. Although we could only offer a pie and a cup of Bovril, not caviar and champagne!
“The serious point here is that Reed is ignoring his constituents and continues to ignore the 82% of Brits who want water in public ownership.
“We’re giving the environment secretary a yellow card for cosying up to the water bosses. If he continues to ignore the public on this, the crowd might just turn on him.”
Read more: Reed took £1,786 football tickets from water company owners
Read more: Suited and booted: Norbury Alli’s donations and No10 access
Read more: Reed group fined for slow declaration of £800,000 donations
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
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