I know how hard it is to kick the wet wipes habit

I couldn’t have brought up two children without baby wipes, writes Fiona McGowan. Would it be wrong to stock up before they’re banned?

The water industry says wet wipes cause 93 per cent of sewage blockages

It would be hard to find a parent in Britain who hasn’t used wet wipes on their baby’s bum – and felt a pang of guilt for doing it.

I can’t imagine parenting life without them, and I’m a socially and environmentally conscious person. I reuse plastic bags. I compost my veggie waste. I certainly don’t flush wet wipes down the loo. But, confession time, I simply can’t get by without them.

The news that environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has announced a plan to ban them – for a third time in the last five years, to be clear – did make me think, about time, too. And also: should I start stocking up?