ENVIRONMENT
Conflict of interest fears over Steve Barclay’s wife
The environment secretary is responsible for tackling sewage dumping companies
Steve Barclay’s new role could put him at odds with his wife Karen’s employers
ALAMY
The new environment secretary is married to a water company senior executive, provoking fresh claims of conflicts of interest at the top of government.
Steve Barclay, who was moved from his job as health secretary in this week’s reshuffle, finds widespread public anger about sewage pollution by water companies at the top of his in-tray.
His wife, Karen Barclay, is head of regional engagement for Anglian Water, which was fined £2.65 million this summer for dumping untreated sewage in the North Sea and failing to do enough to prevent overflows. The fine was the biggest in the east of England after the Environment Agency prosecuted the company for dumping three Olympic swimming pools worth of sewage in a month.
At the time, Rebecca Pow, the
