Therese Coffey has been accused of “taking the public for fools” after she unveiled the government’s plan to tackle the dumping of sewage into Britain’s waterways.
The environment secretary launched her strategy for “cleaner and more plentiful water” on Tuesday.
Figures from the Environment Agency showed water companies dumped sewage into waterways over 300,000 times last year, equivalent to 824 times every day.
Coffey acknowledged “things need to change” but said tackling the problem was not “straightforward”.
Under the £1.6bn proposal, tougher fines for water companies for pollution will be reinvested into a new water restoration fund.
The government will also consider banning the sales of wet wipes containing plastic.
Sewage has become a key battleground ahead of the May 4 local elections, which will a major test for all parties ahead of the next general election due in 2024.
New research by the Lib Dems showed sewage had been spilled onto England’s Blue Flag beaches 1,504 times last year.
Blue Flag status is an international mark of recognition that a beach is deemed safe and environmentally friendly.
Jim McMahon Labour’s shadow environment secretary, said the government’s plan was “the third sham of a Tory water plan since the summer”.
“This announcement is nothing more than a shuffling of the deck chairs and a reheating of old, failed measures that simply give the green light for sewage dumping to continue for decades to come,” he said.
Tim Farron, the Lib Dem environment spokesperson, repeated his party’s call for Coffey to resign.