Angela Jones may wish to re-read the article in the paper on December 15 2021.

I did not say the problems of dealing with river pollution are down to devolution. I said tackling the issue of river pollution has been made “more complicated” by devolution.

This is because we now have two different bodies – the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) – answerable to two different governments.

Both are responsible for monitoring the River Wye, which runs through England and Wales.

Yet the EA cannot investigate what is going on in Wales and NRW cannot investigate what is going on in England.

Furthermore, it is not “hyperbole” to say that blocking off all combined storm or sewer overflows would lead to foul waste flooding into people’s homes.

This is what NRW, which answers to the Welsh Labour Government, told us at a recent meeting with concerned local residents.

Angela was invited to the meeting and I am sorry she did not want to attend.

The next meeting will be with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water in mid-January. Angela is definitely invited.

If we are serious about tackling the problem of river pollution, we all need to work together and be willing to discuss the issue with the organisations who can do something about it.

David T C Davies MP

Monmouth