Kuenssberg asks Reed directly if he intends to ditch the water industry regulator, Ofwat.

Reed says he wants to wait and see what the water report says tomorrow.

Kuenssberg presses again, asking if the secretary has confidence in the regulator.

"The regulator is clearly failing," he says.

"I've been up and down this country and spoken to wild swimmers, parents. Everybody is furious about the state of water."

Environment Secretary Steve Reed is first up in the hot seat. Kuenssberg begins by asking why pristine waterways have become so polluted.

Reed says the situation is "very grim" and that it's clear the water sector is "broken".

He promises the government will change that, including "resetting" the sector by banning bonuses for water company bosses, introducing new prison sentences, and upgrading infrastructure.

"We need a water revolution," he says, pointing towards tomorrow's landmark review of the water industry.

The guests have all arrived, Kuenssberg is in the studio, and the show is about to begin.

We'll bring you the key lines and moments throughout the morning right here, and you can follow along and Watch Live at the top of this page.

Image source, PA Media

As we approach 09:00, let's look at today's full guestlist.

It's Environment Secretary Steve Reed in the hot seat.

He's likely to face questions on water pollution, after the Environment Agency released data showing serious incidents had risen by 60% in the past year - find more details on that in our previous post.

Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will also be on the programme.

As always, we'll also be hearing from the panel, which today features:

• Political commentator Jo Tanner
• SNP MP Stephen Flynn
• Comedian Matt Forde

Image source, PA Media

Environment Secretary Steve Reed is likely to be grilled on the state of England's waterways after he pledged to halve the number of times sewage is discharged by water companies by 2030.

It comes after data published by the Environment Agency showed 2,801 pollution incidents in England last year, the highest on record.

Of these, 75 were considered to pose "serious or persistent" harm to fisheries, drinking water and human health.

Reed said families had "watched their local rivers, coastlines and lakes suffer from record levels of pollution".

Every year, the Environment Agency records the number of times pollution such as untreated sewage is released from water company sites such as treatment works into the country's waterways.

Just three companies – Thames Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water – were responsible for the vast majority of the most serious examples in 2024.

The data comes ahead of a landmark review of the water industry, due to be published tomorrow.

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Image source, Getty Images

Who is in charge? You might think the answer should be obvious.

"This government should be walking on water, there should be nothing it can't do," a Whitehall insider suggests, given the rows and rows and rows - and yes, rows - of Labour MPs who line up behind the prime minister every Wednesday.

But, by booting out a small band of backbenchers this week, Sir Keir Starmer's put the question of his authority back on the table. Answering the question of who is in charge isn't so simple after all.

This government has a "backbench they - and we - are surprised to discover they can't control," says one senior official.

The financial markets are breathing down its neck, with the country's debts sky high, and for good measure, what a No 10 source describes as a "deep current of instability" around the world.

Starmer's next one-to-one meeting with President Donald Trump is a case in point – who knows what he will or won't say alongside the prime minister on Scottish soil next week?

No-one in government can be sure how that is going to shake down, although I was very definitively told we will not be seeing Starmer swinging a club with his transatlantic pal.

It is, of course, impossible for any administration to be the master of all it surveys. But convincingly displaying authority, inhabiting its power, is a different task.

And neither all of Starmer's MPs, nor all of the people inside the government are sure it's being met.

• This is just a taste of Kuenssberg's full analysis: Who is in charge? The prime minister's authority is in question again.

Image source, Getty Images

Labour MP Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP in Parliament, has also been suspended from the party this week over comments she made about racism.

Labour has launched an investigation into Abbott's defence of a 2023 letter to a newspaper, , externalin which she said people of colour experienced racism "all their lives", which was different from the "prejudice" experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

She apologised for those remarks at the time following criticism from Jewish and Traveller groups and was readmitted to the party after a one-year suspension.

Asked by the BBC's James Naughtie if she looked back on the whole incident with regret, she said: "No, not at all."

In a brief statement issued to BBC Newsnight, Abbott said: "My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept."

Image source, UK Parliament

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer suspended four MPs from Labour over repeated breaches of party discipline.

Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff and Rachael Maskell have had the party whip removed, meaning they will sit as independents in the House of Commons.

This comes after dozens of Labour MPs - including the now suspended MPs - rebelled against Downing Street's proposed cuts to welfare earlier in the year, forcing the government to pass a watered-down version of its plans this month.

The MP for York Central, Maskell, was a key figure in organising the rebellion against the welfare bill - calling them "Dickensian cuts" - and said this was behind her suspension.

She told the BBC she had a duty to speak up for those who elected her.

"I don't see myself as a rebel," she said. "But I'm not afraid to speak up about whatever is in my constituents' interests."

Image source, Reuters

• Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said former Conservative ministers had "serious questions to answer" over the data leak on Afghans who supported British forces during the 20-year war in Afghanistan
• Former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps defended the decision to use an injunction to keep the 2022 breach secret, telling the BBC his focus had been "sorting out the mess and saving lives"
• Four Labour MPs were suspended from the party after rebelling against the government's welfare reform bill earlier this month
• Labour also suspended Hackney North and Stock Newington MP Diane Abbott for a second time over comments she made about racism
• Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, has pledged to halve the number of times sewage is discharged by water companies by 2030
• A new UK-Germany treaty was struck, including a plan to create a direct rail link between London and Berlin
• The government confirmed the voting age will be lowered to 16 across the UK in time for the next general election

Image source, PA Media

Welcome to our live coverage of this week's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

It is a jam-packed programme - the last before the summer break - with Environment Secretary Steve Reed, shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, and Reform UK's Nigel Farage on the show.

It's been a busy week in politics so we can expect lively debate on some of these topics:

• Serious pollution incidents by water companies have risen by 60% in a year, according to the Environment Agency
• The major data breach which led to thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK - this became public knowledge for the first time this week
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer's decision to suspend four MPs from Labour over repeated breaches of party discipline

You can watch the show here by clicking Watch Live at the top of the page from 09:00 BST.

We'll also be bringing you text updates throughout the programme - so stick with us.