An interest in river cleanliness greatly increased during lockdown perhaps as a result of the growing number of people wild swimming. The issue of sewage running into rivers quite rightly became a pressing concern. The design of Britain’s antiquated Victorian sewage network has meant that, at times, sewage flows into the river system. When this happens, it is filtered and diluted. However, the fact remains that a certain amount of raw sewage has always flowed into our rivers. Everybody agreed there was a problem and action had to be taken. The argument was about how much could be done, how quickly and at what cost.
The day after last October’s vote in Parliament on amendment 45 of the Environment Bill, Labour Party activists published photographs of Conservative MPs with a caption saying: “Your MP has just voted to allow water companies to pump raw sewage into the sea”. The impression was deliberately given that water companies were being given a right to do something which had never previously happened, and Labour had voted to stop this. This was completely untrue. The facts are as follows: Ever since the sewage network was built, sewage has - at times of high rainfall - been pumped into the river system. The UK Government acknowledged the problem and took action in England. No MP from any party voted in a way that would have stopped sewage from flowing into the river system at any time. It would be a fair criticism to argue that more could be done, or that it should have been done sooner, and we could then discuss how quickly and how it could be paid for. To suggest Conservative MPs voted to allow water companies to do something which had never happened before when we are actually voting to solve the problem is nothing short of a lie.
To anyone seeing posts on Facebook or Twitter by political activists or trade unions, I would suggest asking these questions:
1) Was it Conservative MPs who enabled sewage to be pumped into the river system - or is this something that has always happened?
2) Did the vote on 20 October 2021 mean that more sewage or less sewage would be flowing into rivers?
3) Would blocking off all combined storm or sewer overflows (CSOs) see sewage back up into homes and businesses during periods of heavy rainfall or when it threatens to flood?
4) Which political party is responsible for managing water quality in Wales and for holding the water company to account for its environmental record?
The answer to the last question is, of course, the Welsh Labour Government. I swim in the sea all year round and care deeply about this issue. It is a shame some trade union leaders and political activists are more interested in stirring up hatred against Conservative MPs than in trying to deliver a cleaner environment.
*Published in the Monmouthshire Beacon on 24 August 2022 and Abergavenny Chronicle on 25 August 2022*