Concerns raised about Rugby MP second salary
CITY A.M. have reported that Mark Pawsey the local Conservative MP for Rugby and Bulkington makes £30,000-a-year as chairman of a packaging lobby group but has spoken on multiple occasions in Parliament in favour of watering down environmental laws to favour plastic producers.
The paper says that Mark Pawsey has spoken several times in Parliament outlining his concerns about the effect of environmental legislation on plastic producers. These include a debate in 2020 on environmental regulation banning plastic straws and earlier this year on the Government's Environment Bill.
Leading environmental campaigning organisation Greenpeace UK have questioned whether Mr Pawsey is acting in his constituent's interests saying, "It's deeply concerning that Mark Pawsey is taking a second salary from the plastic packaging industry, while also lobbying in parliament to water down legislation that would help tackle the plastic pollution crisis."
In 2018, Rugby Liberal Democrats pushed through a motion to ensure that Rugby Borough Council is plastic free and doing more to reduce single use plastic waste within the authority, adopting the Waste and Resources Action Programme and engaging more with local environmental groups, businesses, and residents to cut their plastic waste.
Commenting, Cllr Tim Douglas, who put forward the plastic free motion, said:
"Plastic waste is damaging to our environment so it very concerning that our local MP has been embroiled in accusations of lobbying to water down environmental standards. It is ironic we are learning of this the week COP26 concludes, and also the fact that Mark Pawsey attended the Climate Change Conference. As we all try to tackle climate change emergency, Rugby's MP should be doing all he can to shape laws that improve our environment both locally and nationally. Sadly, it would appear that Mark Pawsey is out of touch and prepared to put outside interests first instead of making things better for local residents."
"Rugby deserves an MP that is working full time on behalf of his constituents, especially given the challenging past 18 months."
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https://www.southrugbynews.co.uk/p/rugby-mp-heads-to-cop26
Rugby Lib Dems plastic free motion