Unless you are living in a landlocked part of the country without access to the TV or the internet, you will probably notice that the sewage scandal in the UK is dominating the news and the beaches of our sceptered isle.
Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss has been blamed for causing the discharges after it was revealed that she presided over “efficiency savings” during her time as Environment Secretary that significantly slashed funding for the Environment Agency and resulted in “doubled sewage discharge”.
Labour Party analysis of official figures shows that since 2016, when the Tory leadership hopeful was in charge of Defra – raw sewage discharge more than doubled from 14.7 per overflow in 2016 to 29.3 in 2021.
This coincided with her cutting £80 million of sewage monitors as part of a £235 million Tory axe to the Environment Agency’s budget, which she branded “efficiency savings”.
The Government has insisted water companies are responsible for reducing sewage discharges as Labour accused it of having its “head in the sand” over the state of Britain’s beaches.
Amid growing calls for ministers to clamp down on those contributing to pollution, Number 10 said it was the duty of firms to put customers before shareholders.
Feargal Sharkey has also pointed out some disturbing figures.
Politics JOE’s Ava Santina has created a hilarious ‘shit*ing’ forecast.
Sharing the video, the publication wrote: “Thanks to a system of high pressure from profit sucking water companies, shit will be dumped over most of England, Wales, and Scotland in the coming days.”
There was a lot of love for the video online:
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Related: Sewage leak killed fish along three-mile stretch of river and it’s not first time
