Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Tory culpability in dirtying our beaches
Suddenly, sewage discharges are back in the news. As the Mirror explains thousands were angry after heavy rain last week led to dozens of popular coastal spots having sewage pumped into their waters.
They say that the stink grew when people re-shared details of a Commons vote on the issue from October 2021, with many sharing Twitter messages shaming their local MP, saying they “voted to allow raw sewage to be dumped in our rivers”. It's also been pointed out a quarter of sewage overflow sites went unwatched.
Now, the Independent reports that Tory leadership frontrunner, Liz Truss presided over cuts to Environment Agency funding which “doubled sewage discharge” between 2016 and 2021.
They say that, according to the analysis of official figures, raw sewage discharge rose from 1.47 per overflow six years ago to 29.3 in 2021, and that this increase coincided with Truss cutting £80m off sewage monitors as part of a £235m Tory axe to the EA’s budget, which she branded “efficiency savings”.
Figures show raw sewage has been discharged into the environment well over a million times in the past five years:
The Independent has also revealed all wastewater companies in England and Wales failed to meet their pollution or sewage flood targets last year.
The Environment Agency works closely with water companies to ensure they are closely monitoring and reporting back on their discharge activity.
As environment secretary, Ms Truss justified cuts saying “there are ways we can make savings as a department” citing better use of technology and inter-agency working.
But shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: “Under the Tories, the country is facing a crisis in our water supply. Our water infrastructure is at bursting point, with billions of litres of water being wasted every day and raw sewage being dumped into our waters.
“The fact that Liz Truss was the one to cut the EA [Environment Agency] so severely, not only demonstrates her lack of foresight but also her lack of care for the detail, in recognising the need to adapt to the serious flooding that had just happened on her watch.
So whatever the truth about the amendment that was voted down, it seems that if your beach or river has raw sewage in it, then it was the Tories wot done it.
They say that the stink grew when people re-shared details of a Commons vote on the issue from October 2021, with many sharing Twitter messages shaming their local MP, saying they “voted to allow raw sewage to be dumped in our rivers”. It's also been pointed out a quarter of sewage overflow sites went unwatched.
Now, the Independent reports that Tory leadership frontrunner, Liz Truss presided over cuts to Environment Agency funding which “doubled sewage discharge” between 2016 and 2021.
They say that, according to the analysis of official figures, raw sewage discharge rose from 1.47 per overflow six years ago to 29.3 in 2021, and that this increase coincided with Truss cutting £80m off sewage monitors as part of a £235m Tory axe to the EA’s budget, which she branded “efficiency savings”.
Figures show raw sewage has been discharged into the environment well over a million times in the past five years:
The Independent has also revealed all wastewater companies in England and Wales failed to meet their pollution or sewage flood targets last year.
The Environment Agency works closely with water companies to ensure they are closely monitoring and reporting back on their discharge activity.
As environment secretary, Ms Truss justified cuts saying “there are ways we can make savings as a department” citing better use of technology and inter-agency working.
But shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: “Under the Tories, the country is facing a crisis in our water supply. Our water infrastructure is at bursting point, with billions of litres of water being wasted every day and raw sewage being dumped into our waters.
“The fact that Liz Truss was the one to cut the EA [Environment Agency] so severely, not only demonstrates her lack of foresight but also her lack of care for the detail, in recognising the need to adapt to the serious flooding that had just happened on her watch.
So whatever the truth about the amendment that was voted down, it seems that if your beach or river has raw sewage in it, then it was the Tories wot done it.
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