At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, South West Wiltshire MP Andrew Murrison asked Deputy PM David Lammy, standing in for Keir Starmer, a series of straightforward questions about waste incinerators. The issue is extremely important to Andrew's constituents in and around Westbury, where an old-style great incinerator is planned.
Andrew is seeking to remove or restrict plans for a waste burner in Westbury. He plans to make it as difficult as possible for the waste operator and, to that end, asked the following questions of Mr Lammy:
- When will this Government renew the last Government's pause on new incinerators?
- When will it end deliver-or-pay contracts with incinerator companies?
- When will it deliver an incineration tax, like the landfill tax, to encourage waste reduction, reuse, and recycling?
After the exchange, Andrew said:
'I put three straightforward questions, which I would have expected Mr Lammy to have a reasonable stab at. The issue of incinerators is not confined to Westbury and should be understood by all Cabinet ministers, but apparently not by Mr Lammy. When I have the opportunity to quiz the Prime Minister himself on this, I will certainly do so, and hope for a meaningful response.'