Demand for water fountains

THE Commons chamber should be fitted with water fountains, a Labour MP has said.

Stephen Pound said he was “horrified” to see carafes and glasses of water next to the despatch box.

MPS including Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said glasses were environmentally friendly, while another said water in plastic bottles was being stopped across the parliamentary estate.

Ealing North MP Mr Pound, in an intervention to Labour’s Susan Elan Jones, said: “Would it not be an excellent idea to have a water fountain adjacent to the Speaker’s chair, perhaps one opposite the two frontbenches, with disposable biodegradable cups?”