Anyone who knows me knows how determined I am to clean up Monmouthshire’s rivers. It’s been one of my top priorities since day one as MP – and I’m proud that after 15 years of devastating pollution, we’re finally turning the page and starting to see real change.

Across Monmouthshire, river pollution is consistently raised by residents – whether it’s in emails, at surgeries, through my constituency survey, or out on the doorstep. People are rightly angry about the state of our rivers.

We all want our rivers back – the rivers I remember from my own childhood, and from when I first moved to Monmouthshire over 25 years ago. And we’re not asking for much – just clean, swimmable water and thriving wildlife, not sewage spills and excuses.

That’s why I’m glad to see this Labour Government taking the issue seriously – and quite literally starting to clean up the mess left by previous Governments.

Over the past year, I’ve worked hard to make this a national priority. I helped secure £1 million to support the River Wye Action Plan. I secured the first ever cross-border meeting on the issue, and I’ve repeatedly raised it in Parliament – including with the Prime Minister and senior Ministers. I also helped develop and pass a new law banning bonuses for water company bosses who pollute.But this is only the beginning.

I now welcome the UK Government’s announcement of the biggest reforms to the water industry in a generation. Their clear goal is to halve sewage pollution by 2030 - and unlike previous promises, this time, there’s a plan to deliver it.

The reforms include over £100 billion of investment to rebuild our crumbling sewage infrastructure and build new treatment works.

The regulator OFWAT will be scrapped and replaced with a new, single, more powerful watchdog for Wales, with a focus on enforcement and accountability.

There will also be a new Water Ombudsman to strengthen consumer rights.

Importantly, the reforms will mean water companies can no longer use your bills to reward shareholders. Instead, that money must be ring-fenced for infrastructure upgrades.

Executives who break the rules or cover up sewage spills could now face criminal charges – and we’ve already seen bonuses blocked for bosses at six polluting companies.

I know there’s still much more to do, and I’ll keep pushing both the UK and Welsh Governments for further action.

I’ll continue fighting for the investment and enforcement our rivers so urgently need.

We’ve waited long enough. It’s time to clean up our rivers for good.