Pollution, photo public domain, photo Public Domain

Pollution, photo public domain, photo Public Domain   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Rivers of sewage

Here’s the question. Who does the Tory government support: the privately owned water companies or the public?

It’s a no brainer, and if you had any doubt then last week the government batted away a Lords amendment to the Environment Bill to make it illegal under certain circumstances to discharge untreated waste into our waterways.

According to the Environment Agency, the highly profitable water companies dumped raw sewage into rivers in England more than 400,000 times in 2020.

The main government objection to the amendment is that stopping this pollution would cost the companies too much.

The quality of water in our rivers has collapsed in the last five years as a result of raw sewage discharges, industrial chemicals being dumped and slurry run-offs from mega-farms. No river in the country is now certified as safe for swimmers.

If you don’t want to swim in an open sewer, then fight to nationalise the water companies.

Britain Thinks – we need socialism

Consultancy ‘Britain Thinks’ has commissioned the ‘Net Zero Diaries’. People are writing their thoughts about tackling climate change, and they make fascinating reading.

Most think:

  • The government should fund emergency measures, as it did during Covid
  • Cop26 will not achieve very much
  • The private companies can’t be trusted to lead the move to net zero because they always maximise profits
  • Big business should be called on to pay higher taxes, not individuals
  • Nationalisation is the simplest way to achieve coordinated national action

More evidence that the Socialist Party’s demand for socialist change to combat climate change is the way forward.