Water: National Grid Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Lea of Crondall
Main Page: Lord Lea of Crondall (Non-affiliated - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Lea of Crondall's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(12 years, 10 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
My noble friend makes a very good point, indicating that water efficiency is one of the key strategies which it is in all our interests to pursue, particularly at this time when drought threatens a good deal of the country. That and water capture and storage are strategies which individuals and businesses can undertake for themselves.
Lord Lea of Crondall
Does the Minister recall that the last time the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, invented a statistic regarding the water directive—in this case, £65 billion—he got his arithmetic wrong, as he subsequently acknowledged, by a factor of 1,000? Does the Minister think that the same is likely to apply on this occasion?
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
I cannot possibly comment on the accuracy of the mathematics of the noble Lord, Lord Pearson. He has placed a figure before the House and, of course, is accountable for what he has suggested, but I cannot comment on it.