‘I don’t think it’s helpful you ask questions like this’ squirms MP

Pity the poor people of Streatham (and Croydon North), who this morning discovered that they have elected as their MP – effectively given him a job for life – someone who thinks ignorance is some kind of acceptable excuse for a government minister.

And someone who really thinks it quite impertinent to be asked direct questions about their prediliction for accepting thousands of pounds’ worth of freebies from the very people they are supposed to be overseeing in their government job.

Steve Reed OBE found himself being grilled by Kay Burley on Sky News’s morning news slot. It made for five minutes of riveting telly, as Reed squirmed. It was, very possibly, the worst television appearance made by an MP representing a Croydon constituency since Chris Philp last appeared on the tellybox. And that’s saying something.

It was barely 24 hours since Labour List, the in-house website of the Labour Party, was publishing the names of ministers in Keir Starmer’s new government who had done the morning rounds of television studios the most since the General Election on July 4. According to this Labour List list, right-winger Reed had made no appearances whatsoever.

After seeing Reed’s car crash interview this morning, it is easy to see why the Streatham (and Croydon North) MP has suddenly gone all camera shy.

At the core of Burley’s televised inquisition was Reed having enjoyed copious hospitality in December 2023 at the expense of Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings.

CK Hutchison Holdings owns 75% of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, the owner of Northumbrian Water.

Northumbrian Water spilt sewage into England’s waterways for 280,000 hours in 2023.

Reed was Labour’s shadow spokesperson on the environment at the time – responsible for policy on water companies and shit. Yeah, loads of shit…

Reed enjoyed tickets and hospitality to a Chelsea v Crystal Palace Premier League match at Stamford Bridge valued at £1,786.

Reed attended the football match at the same time he was publicly calling for tighter controls on the water industry, to force utlity companies to clean up their acts and stop pumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into our rivers and streams, lakes and on to our coastlines.

“Frankly, it is the latest question mark over an industry riddled with double standards and conflicts of interest,” one anti-pollution campaigner said when the news of the largesse enjoyed by Reed broke last month. They described Reed’s junketing with the polluters as “blatantly inappropriate hospitality”.

Reed has said he will crack down on the water industry, but not by nationalising the privatised monopoly suppliers as many demand, but by blocking director bonuses and introducing criminal charges for blocking investigations, reforms that have been criticised by campaigners as weak and inadequate.

In this morning’s squirm-laden TV interview, Reed, now the Labour government’s environment secretary, at first tried to claim, “No, I didn’t” when he was asked why he took tickets from Northumbrian Water’s parent company.

It was an odd thing to deny. Reed had made the declaration of the hospitality in the Register of Members’ Interests.

Pressed on the clear business relationship between Hutchison and the water company, Reed stuttered: “On that occasion, there was nobody there from a water company involved in offering those tickets, there was nobody from a water company at that event.”

Does Reed have no understanding of how businesses work?

Pressed on the relationship between the parent company and Northumbrian Water, Reed said – out loud, on live TV – “I wouldn’t have known that.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Burley asked.”You should have known that… So you didn’t know who you were taking tickets from?”

“Well… I… I didn’t know they had a relationship with a water company,” Reed said, pleading incompetence rather than corruption.

Burley pointed out that the programme’s producer had been able to discover the ownership status in just five minutes. She asked an obvious question: “Why should the people of Northumbria think you are fit for your job?”

Reed blathered on about how tough his proposed legislation is.

“The implication is that I would somehow go soft on water companies,” he said. “What I’ve actually done is bring in the toughest legislation to stop the payment of unfair bonuses, to make water bosses face criminal liability for the kind of things that they’re doing.”

When Burley asked whether he would accept gifts from the same donors again, Reed said “with hindsight” he “probably wouldn’t”.

The presenter then asked why he wouldn’t take the tickets again. Astonishingly, Reed’s best answer was: “Well, I don’t think it’s helpful that you are able to ask me questions like this.”

Kay Burley laughed openly.

While the rest of us are just left to weep…

FREE ADS: Paid-up subscribers to Inside Croydon qualify for a free ad for their business, residents’ association or community group, just one of the benefits of being part of our online community. For more information about being an iC subscriber, click here for our Patreon page

PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our near 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, which is featured on Google News Showcase and followed by 16,000 on Twitter/X, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates

Inside Croydon – If you want real journalism, delivering real news, from a publication that is actually based in the borough, please consider paying for it. Sign up today: click here for more details

If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

As featured on Google News Showcase

We offer FREE ads to community groups when they have members who are paid subscribers to Inside Croydon

Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here

Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network

Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London