After Loughton announced in October 2017 that he meditates in the bath for an hour every morning, it was reported that he had built up water bills over the previous two years of £662, which he had put on his expenses. After his initial comments on the length of time he spent in baths led to negative commentary in sections of the press, Loughton responded: "MP takes bath is apparently hot news in Westminster at the moment. However the real story was a conference I co-hosted at Westminster yesterday which brought together 20 MPs from over 15 countries to promote mindfulness as one of the ways we can help tackle the epidemic of mental illness."