Hitchin MP Bim Afolami is a regular Nub News columnist.

While Hitchin Nub News is resolutely non-political we will feature our parliamentarian's exclusive column every month.

So, read on for the latest from our town's MP in his exclusive, must-read monthly column as he hits back at criticism regarding his vote on the recent 'Sewage Bill'.

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It has been extremely disappointing to see some poisonous rhetoric this month from opposition politicians (with the sole aim of whipping up public anger against myself and colleagues) as Parliament was debating the best way to protect our streams and rivers from sewage.

In my October column for Nub News I reflected on the need to address the toxic culture of political debate in this country and the impact that rhetoric can have.

As those familiar with my work will know, and as has been acknowledged by local politicians of all political persuasions, I am a strong supporter of action to protect our chalk streams.

These are a rare natural resource and habitat and in Hitchin and Harpenden we are blessed to have a significant proportion of the world's chalk streams.

I will continue to work to protect them.

I was proud to vote for the Government's Amendment to the Environment Act, which ensures there is a legal duty on water companies to progressively reduce the adverse impact of sewage discharges on the environment and public health.

The Duke of Wellington's original Amendment, while excellent in principle – required a complete overhaul of our drainage infrastructure.

Regrettably, we cannot fix decades of under-investment overnight with a blanket ban on sewage discharges - however much we might wish to do so.

I believe that these new measures will provide protection for our natural environment in a way that is pragmatic and realistic, and does not create the undesirable risk of sewage being discharged into Hitchin's streets instead during extreme rain.

In legislating, it is the precise effect, rather than the good intention, of a measure that matters.

Unfortunately that means that sometimes as a Member of Parliament, you have to vote against things that sound good on paper, but in practice are not feasible.

Compromise and imperfect solutions are sometimes necessary in responsible government and change may need to be slower than you would like in order for it to not lead to any unfortunate repercussions.

By presenting legislative decisions as black and white – either an MP voted to ban sewage or they voted to pump sewage into our rivers – opposition politicians are calculatedly giving the public an impression that their MP supported something that they did not.

They are doing that to undermine the public's trust in specific MPs, but one day they may find that when they have to make these hard decisions themselves, the public's trust in all politicians' motivations when making imperfect choices has been irreparably eroded.

The reality of politics – and one that politicians in all parties would do well to remember – is that there is no such thing as an easy choice.

Every decision comes with trade offs.

Every piece of legislation must be carefully drafted so as to avoid any unexpected problems.

If we could have realistically banned all sewage from entering our waterways tomorrow, I would have done.

But despite the opposition rhetoric around this, the reality is that was simply never a realistic option.

By making it seem like MPs voted for something they didn't in order to whip up some short term political advantage, opposition politicians should take time to reflect on the impact they are having on the tone of political debate and on the precedent they are setting for themselves.

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