Govt delays health check of rivers by 6 years..

[Joe Winstanley]

So despite all the platitudes and promises about addressing the state of our rivers in the face of increasing public concern, the Govt's response is to:

- delay chemical pollution assessments for a further 6 years..

- reduce the number of ecological assessments.

Basically a cynical move to skew the data to hide the decline in water quality in our rivers during their watch. They are beyond contempt.

Fury as national health check of England’s waters delayed by six years | Rivers | The Guardian

amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[Neil Blood]

To some Tory MP’s including senior Tories, its all just green crap, which gets in the way of economic growth

 

[Paul Bullinger]

Sadly there's nothing to choose between any of the main political parties these days when it comes to the health of our rivers. Given the multitude of problems facing the UK these days, pollution is way down the list of issues needing attention.

 

[Simon Tarrant]

Sadly there's nothing to choose between any of the main political parties these days when it comes to the health of our rivers. Given the multitude of problems facing the UK these days, pollution is way down the list of issues needing attention.

Unfortunately this is very much the truth . I really don't know what the answer is

 

[John Care]

To some Tory MP’s including senior Tories, its all just green crap, which gets in the way of economic growth

That's exactly what it is Neil. To the Tories, the only thing that matters is money, which is why our rivers are in this mess - all started by privatisation, which they started. Paying shareholders dividends is the only priority now to these water companies.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

The whole system is rotten tbh. I'd love to know which MP's hold shares in the water companies, or investments via their pension funds.

I'm not hugely optimistic that the prospective Labour Govt-in-waiting has any serious ambition to address pollution.

The shadow Defra Minister Jim McMahon does not fill me with much confidence. There does not seem to much on record from him on water quality issues previous to the last 12 months. He doesn't seem to have many answers, just obvious statements that the water companies need to fix the problem. Er..yes Jim, but how? And how will you make them? What will you do if they don't?

He seems a bit lightweight to me. But I suppose I'd trust him a little more than Terese Coffey not to be corrupt.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

Terese Coffey....sorry if this offends anyone. But if you can't be trusted to look after your own health then why should you be trusted to look after the health of the UK's environment.

 

[Neil Blood]

Sadly there's nothing to choose between any of the main political parties these days when it comes to the health of our rivers. Given the multitude of problems facing the UK these days, pollution is way down the list of issues needing attention.

When did Starmer last ask an environmental based question during PMQ’s? The bottom line is, he never has done Also consider when Fish Legal challenged NRW over the impact of intensive poultry farming in the upper Wye Valley, NRW replied stating there is no problem, quoting data from 2009 and 2015! WTF and where was the date for the last 7 years? Bottom line is there wasn’t any. NRW is controlled and funded by the Welsh Labour Assembly.

From what I’ve seen, the only parties asking questions are the Lib Dem’s and Greens…..

 

[Graham Tremble]

That's exactly what it is Neil. To the Tories, the only thing that matters is money, which is why our rivers are in this mess - all started by privatisation, which they started. Paying shareholders dividends is the only priority now to these water companies.

You may well be right but Scottish Water is Nationalised and is equality incompetent. Take your pick….

 

[Graham Tremble]

The whole system is rotten tbh. I'd love to know which MP's hold shares in the water companies, or investments via their pension funds.

I'm not hugely optimistic that the prospective Labour Govt-in-waiting has any serious ambition to address pollution.

The shadow Defra Minister Jim McMahon does not fill me with much confidence. There does not seem to much on record from him on water quality issues previous to the last 12 months. He doesn't seem to have many answers, just obvious statements that the water companies need to fix the problem. Er..yes Jim, but how? And how will you make them? What will you do if they don't?

He seems a bit lightweight to me. But I suppose I'd trust him a little more than Terese Coffey not to be corrupt.

Nearly all the public who have pensions will have water company shares and enjoy dividends from these companies. How many people with pension funds actually bother to find out what shares are in their portfolios. ( The answer is probably none btw ).
Regards,
G.T.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

Nearly all the public who have pensions will have water company shares and enjoy dividends from these companies. How many people with pension funds actually bother to find out what shares are in their portfolios. ( The answer is probably none btw ).
Regards,
G.T.

That's mostly likely very true Graham, but the public don't vote directly on important legislation, MP's do.

So when an MP is being interviewed on TV explaining why they have just voted down plans to hold water companies to more account (as 292 Government MP's did back in Jan), wouldn't it useful to know exactly what their personal financial interest is? It would be good if it could be captioned on the screen as they are talking!