We asked you to submit your questions to candidates standing in the 2024 General Election.
From all your submissions, we chose 10 that represented the broad issues you wanted answers to.
We asked every candidate we had contact details for to respond.
We’ll be publishing them in the run-up to the General Election with the responses from the candidates who replied from each constituency.
These are the answers are from candidates standing in the Carlisle constituency.
What will you do to stop run off from animal agriculture polluting lakes/rivers?
Julie Minns, Labour
As a keen open water swimmer, I share people’s outrage at the state of our rivers and coastlines.
I don’t think we can just pin this on farmers, though. Of course, we need to be vigilant about all forms of pollution, but the biggest problem has been that the Tories have turned a blind eye to illegal sewage, allowing water companies to dump sewage in our rivers and lakes.
Labour’s plan will stop the water bosses’ bonuses and protect Britain’s beautiful countryside.
Gavin Hawkton, the Green Party
We would increase DEFRA’s budget by £1.5bn, to enhance funding for the Environment Agency and Natural England.
This includes developing a soil health monitoring programme for England, to match those in Scotland and Wales, addressing pollution into lakes/rivers from fertilisers, agricultural waste and sewage, through effective monitoring and enforcement.
Brian Wernham, Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats will implement stricter regulations on agricultural runoff to prevent pollution of lakes and rivers.
We will work with farmers to adopt sustainable practices, including better management of manure and fertilisers, to reduce the impact on waterways.
Additionally, we will increase funding for monitoring and enforcement to ensure compliance with environmental standards.
