Southend against Sewage
I was at the Surfers Against Sewage Paddle Out on the 18th of May.
Yes, that’s me holding the sign in the green t-shirt with the casettes on it. Possibly should have worn a shirt if I’d known I’d be posting the photo! The solution to problems like this in our society, come down to us using the law to control the worst extremes of capitalism. Water and Sanitation is a human right. Here’s is what we the Liberal Democrats will change to make clean water happen and compel water companies to work for us.
Scrap Ofwat. We, the Lib Dems, want to completely overhaul the industry by scrapping the regulator Ofwat and turning water companies into “public benefit companies” that put the environment before profits. Below is Lib Dem MP Tim Farron on Radio 4’s Today programme, talking about our plans to get sewage out of rivers and off our beaches. (I added this radio interview the 30th of May).
Get the Tories out of power. There is no hope of change from the Tories. In April 2024, Conservative and Labour MPs, including Anna Firth, voted to further weaken Ofwat’s powers to do something about the water companies. Here are the details. We can have clean rivers, fair water prices and infrastructure investment. Only about 120 miles east of Essex in the Netherlands, 100% of sewage is treated in line with EU legislation. In the UK it is what? We don’t even know!
Surfers Against Sewage have stood up for clean water for many years, thank you to them!