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The Water Pollution Cover-Up

T

Tony Koziol

Senior Member & Supporter
Tonight on BBC1 at 8pm, it appears that United Utilities have been misrepresenting the level of pollution incidents in the North West and then patting themselves on the back for having low incidents of pollution.
 
Well done Tony for posting, it’s not news to me as you know, the UU have been telling lies all along. The EA are no better. Another failed group of people who don’t care. You witnessed the latest pollution last week.
 
The level and extent of "cover-ups" across society is mind blowing. Not just the utility companies, but central and local government, banking, insurance, construction, farming, NHS....you name it there will be a "cover-up" story somewhere. Why? Normally it's financial, driven by human greed or downright stupidity.
It angers me no end and that's why I go fishing to unwind and lower my BP!!!
 
Paul Bullinger said:
The level and extent of "cover-ups" across society is mind blowing. Not just the utility companies, but central and local government, banking, insurance, construction, farming, NHS....you name it there will be a "cover-up" story somewhere. Why? Normally it's financial, driven by human greed or downright stupidity.
It angers me no end and that's why I go fishing to unwind and lower my BP!!!
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Sorry Paul if you watch this programme tonight you will be going fishing tomorrow it is horrendous and dare I say criminal. Be warned your BP will be off scale:mad:
 
What a travesty!

What sort of state are we in if the EA is complicit in the water companies effectively ‘hiding’ significant pollution incidents…..

I sat on Thames RFERAC for a decade and told the EA that allowing the water companies to self monitor would be a disaster - so did the rest of the committee. But the EA took absolutely no notice - we were only representing angling and the general public……
 
I was wondering where my EA rod license money goes and now I know - bonuses for water companies that have 'met their environmental targets'. What a joke.

And the EA has the cheek to impose a disproportionately hefty £2,500.00 fine on individuals unable to produce a rod license when asked. Makes me want to buy a caravan and take up poaching.
.
 
Yes the EA are unfit for purpose. But why is that?

As ever I notice that the Govt. Seem to evade criticism on this issue? The EA is run by people directly appointed by the Govt and on a budget decided by the Govt. The buck stops directly with them.

If you voted Conservative in 2010, you did so on the basis of an election manifesto which promised to cut public spending on environmental protections. Remember Cameron and Osbournes much vaunted bonfire of the quangos? Laws and regulations to prevent pollution were described by Cameron as "green crap" and as "red tape". Osbourne even tried to argue that environmental protections were "a handbrake on the economy", despite never once being able to point to any independent study that came to the same conclusion.

And if you voted Conservative in 2014, the manifesto promised to go even further with the cuts. Do you not remember the manic glee with Liz Truss waived through further cuts. Unsurprisingly there was a mass exodus of talent from Defra and its delivery bodies.

What did you think would happen when the EA's budget was cut in half? And the people placed in charge of it were political appointments designed to ensure the organisation didn't push back against the cuts, and did exactly what the developers and big corporations wanted.

One of Camerons first appointments was to place a house-builder in charge of Natural England...says it all doesn't it?

The EA is now exactly the dysfunctioning, toothless organisation that the Conservative Party bosses wished it to be. It didn't happen by accident.

Oh, and if you look at the recent Autumn statement you will realise that Sunak plans to cut Defra's budget by a further 11% in the next financial year. Genius.
 
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Joe Winstanley said:
Yes the EA are unfit for purpose. But why is that?

As ever I notice that the Govt. Seem to evade criticism on this issue? The EA is run by people directly appointed by the Govt and on a budget decided by the Govt. The buck stops directly with them.

If you voted Conservative in 2010, you did so on the basis of an election manifesto which promised to cut public spending on environmental protections. Remember Cameron and Osbournes much vaunted bonfire of the quangos? Laws and regulations to prevent pollution were described by Cameron as "green crap" and as "red tape". Osbourne even tried to argue that environmental protections were "a handbrake on the economy", despite never once being able to point to any independent study that came to the same conclusion.

And if you voted Conservative in 2014, the manifesto promised to go even further with the cuts. Do you not remember the manic glee with Liz Truss waived through further cuts. Unsurprisingly there was a mass exodus of talent from Defra and its delivery bodies.

What did you think would happen when the EA's budget was cut in half? And the people placed in charge of it were political appointments designed to ensure the organisation didn't push back against the cuts, and did exactly what the developers and big corporations wanted.

One of Camerons first appointments was to place a house-builder in charge of Natural England...says it all doesn't it?

The EA is now exactly the dysfunctioning, toothless organisation that the Conservative Party bosses wished it to be. It didn't happen by accident.

Oh, and if you look at the recent Autumn statement you will realise that Sunak plans to cut Defra's budget by a further 11% in the next financial year. Genius.
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Yes, and Labour are promising Millions more houses and no change fundamentaly to the way our water is policed. Tragic.
 
Graham Tremble said:
I might have more confidence if Labour had promised a nationalised water industry, they haven’t. So more of the same…tragic.
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The problem with renationlisation is that the water companies have pulled off a clever trick by loading themselves with debt to pay for shareholder dividends. This debt would have to be taken on by the tax-payer. You can argue for or against whether it's affordable, but it's unlikely to be popular with a public who view Govt debt in the same vane as household debt. It isn't but ultimately public perception is the political reality.

I like the idea put forward by the likes of Dieter Helm about how the public can take control of the Utilities without having to renationalise. Principally through proper regulation amd the introduction of new Govt Acts. The Lib Dems have bought into this. As such they are the only major party to have a coherent plan.
 
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Joe Winstanley said:
The problem with renationlisation is that the water companies have pulled off a clever trick by loading themselves with debt to pay for shareholder dividends. This debt would have to be taken on by the tax-payer. You can argue for or against whether it's affordable, but it's unlikely to be popular with a public who view Govt debt in the same vane as household debt. It isn't but ultimately public perception is the political reality.

I like the idea put forward by the likes of Dieter Helm about how the public can take control of the Utilities without having to renationalise. Principally through proper regulation amd the introduction of new Govt Acts. The Lib Dems have bought into this. As such they are the only major party to have a coherent plan.
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Intresting Joe, where has this been adopted and proved to be successful?
G.T.
 
Some eye opening comments in here, although unfortunately not surprising :(

I’m now boycotting my licence fee, haven’t paid for the last year or so and have no intention of doing it whilst the EA is a total farce.
 
Before we forget lets remember that Scottish Water is public and they have exactly the same problem as we do south of the border.

We have had this raw sewage problem for well over seventeen years according to my diaries this brings in Labour, Coalition and Tories.

Even before any spending cuts the EA have not been fit for purpose for many many years.
 
Tony Koziol said:
Before we forget lets remember that Scottish Water is public and they have exactly the same problem as we do south of the border.

We have had this raw sewage problem for well over seventeen years according to my diaries this brings in Labour, Coalition and Tories.

Even before any spending cuts the EA have not been fit for purpose for many many years.
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As Joe W pointed out earlier one could argue that the EA isn’t the problem - it’s inability to act is just a symptom of central government mis-management of U.K. plc.
 
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