Thread by @PickardJE

there’s a lingering disquiet about Tory MPs voting last week against an amendment to stop private water companies dumping raw sewage into rivers and coastlines…not sure they’ve gauged the public mood on this

government says that eliminating all storm overflow (of sewage) would cost £150bn:

here’s their line

on a more prosaic note, in case you find the terminology confusing:

sewage is the waste that is produced by people while sewerage is the structure that holds the sewage

here’s the seminal analysis of water privatisation in @ft by @gillplimmer1 & @Grepsul

“since privatisation the aggregate cash flow generated by water companies after operating costs was £36bn more than the £123bn they spent on fixed assets eg new pipes”

ft.com/content/b60e06…

and here’s more analysis today from @greenmiranda

“at low tide you can see sanitary products, sometimes human faeces on the sand”

ft.com/content/be4bca…

and now the government seems to be making a U-turn after all