Steve Reed stated that he “didn’t know they had a relationship with a water company” and that “nobody spoke about it” on the Breakfast with Kay Burley show on News.
The business is fully owned by CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based firm that also owns 75% of CK Infrastructure Holdings, the company that owns Northumbrian Water.
According to the registry of members’ financial interests, Mr. Reed received the tickets three months after being appointed shadow environment secretary.
This summer, water regulator Ofwat fined Northumbrian Water £17 million for releasing sewage into rivers for 280,000 hours from it.
That year, Heidi Mottram, the chief executive of the water firm, was given a bonus of £234,000.
Advocates for clean water have expressed worry about the meeting between Mr. Reed and Hutchison executives, especially given the connections between the water business, regulators, and the government.
Since the ticket came from a telecom firm, Mr. Reed’s spokesperson referred to the matter as “complete nonsense” and said that “not a single policy has been softened” as a result.
