UK environment minister claims Scottish water is dirtier than England's

The Scottish Government has demanded an apology after the UK environment minister said Scotland’s water is dirtier than England’s.

Steve Reed said that “pollution levels in Scotland are worse than they are in England”.

Scotland’s climate action secretary Gillian Martin said the claim was “inaccurate and misleading”.

According to the latest independent water commission report, Scotland has more waterways in “good” ecological condition compared to England and Wales.

Martin called for Reed to apologise for his comments made during an interview on Channel 4 News on Monday.

In a letter to the environment secretary on Tuesday, she said: “I cannot understand how you could make such an inaccurate comment when the very report that you were on the programme to discuss clearly states the opposite.

“I am therefore asking that you acknowledge that your comments were inaccurate, apologise publicly for them, and seek to correct them.”

The row emerged after the final report from the Independent Water Commission found that 66% of Scotland’s water bodies were of good ecological status, compared with 16.1% in England and 29.9% in Wales.

While Martin said there is “clearly more to do”, 87% of Scotland’s entire water environment is assessed by SEPA as having a high or good classification for water quality – up from 82% in 2014.

“Whilst we of course need to be careful how these figures are used, as they are not calculated on the same basis, it is clear that Scotland has a higher performance,” Martin said.

When asked about public ownership of water during a Channel 4 News interview on Monday night, Reed said: “In any case, it is not guaranteed to work… and we know that from looking north of the border where, in Scotland, they have a nationalised water company but pollution levels in Scotland are worse than they are in England.”

The Independent Water Commission report was led by Sir Jon Cunliffe and was prohibited from looking at the possibility of nationalising water companies in England and Wales.

Reed warned that nationalisation would cost £100bn and would slow down efforts to cut pollution.

Martin accused Reed of seeking to “undermine the idea of public ownership”.

She said Scotland’s comparatively high water performance is “in part, due to water being a publicly owned asset, allowing for investment without shareholder returns or the pressure to make profits”.

The UK Government has been contacted for comment.