State of Climate and Nature

Debate between Lizzi Collinge and Mary Creagh

Monday 13th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mary Creagh]

I pay tribute to everyone who is helping with the restocking. My hon. Friend is lucky to have a river so close to London that has such a sensitive and rare species as the European eel in it. It is important that perpetrators of environmental crimes are brought to justice swiftly, but it is also important that any case that we bring is watertight and achieves the right outcomes.

[Lizzi Collinge (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Lab)]

A couple of years ago, I went to Spain at the end of a severe heatwave, and what I saw devastated me. There were fields and fields of blackened crops. Now farmers in my constituency are increasingly experiencing drought, flooding, extreme heat, and a change in the seasons due to climate change. Does the Minister agree with me that acting on climate change is vital for securing Britain’s food supply, and farming’s future as an essential industry for our country?

[Mary Creagh]

We know that we need to experiment with agroforestry, and that we need to do farming differently in this country, but sometimes it is about going back to the old ways of farming, with mixed arable crops and cattle and sheep, to get back that grassland; and about re-wiggling the waters. I was talking today about the blocking up of a little river in East Anglia for blackcurrant bushes—we all grew up on Ribena. That is resilient farming—growing our own fruit, and not relying on Spain for our fruit and veg, because if Spain’s water supply dries up, we will have to do more at home.