Embarrassment for Tories who sit in three out of four constituencies worst hit by sewage spills
The Tories have been shamed by the government’s own environment data which has revealed Conservative MPs sit in three quarters of the constituencies worst hit by sewage spills last year.
The Prime Minister’s own seat in Richmond, North Yorkshire, came out tenth worst on the list of constituencies in England affected the most by the discharge of raw sewage blighting the area’s waterways.
Analysis conducted by the Liberal Democrats and reported first in The Times found 75 out of the top 100 worst affected constituencies are held by Tory MPs, in a further blow to the party’s abysmal record on tackling the sewage scandal.
Last year was the worst for sewage spills since records began according to the Environment Agency, with a staggering 3.6 million hours of sewage discharge across England. In Rishi Sunak’s seat, Yorkshire Water spilled sewage for almost 42,000 hours, with the company coming out second worst for sewage discharge last year.
Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said: “People are sick to the back teeth of their Conservative MPs voting time and again to allow water companies to get away with this environmental vandalism.
“Come the election, the Conservatives face a reckoning at the ballot box from voters furious about this sewage scandal.”
Campaigner Feagal Sharkey agreed: “If there was ever 75 MPs who should loose their seats at the general election it’s them right there. Including the Prime Minister.”
Protesters including comedian Steve Coogan have been demonstrating this week at England’s largest lake, Lake Windermere, against the water firm United Utilities which is behind 27,000 hours of sewage being dumped into the lake since 2020.
Coogan has led widespread calls to clean up the untreated sewage as he called on the Government to act and put forward proposals to clean up the lake.
It also comes as water monopolies were revealed this week to have paid out an eye watering £78bn in dividends in the 32 years since the privatisation of England’s water industry, while customer bills soar.
(Image credit: Simon Walker / Number 10 – Creative Commons)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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