Thread by @SOSWhitstable

We are concerned by the @Conservatives response to the ongoing sewage crisis and the manner in which they are trying to shape the narrative and rewrite history. A thread ⤵️

We'll begin with this article in @TheArgus, discussing the open letter written by a number of Sussex MPs to @SouthernWater this week.
theargus.co.uk/news/20674341.…

In it @mariacaulfield, MP for Lewes and Minister of State for Health, references last year's House of Commons vote on a sewage amendment to the Environment Bill, which we fought for and @Conservatives blocked.

She claimed the amendment called for "an immediate end to sewage outflows" and "would have led to sewage leaking into people's homes.

This is, at best, a complete misunderstanding of the amendment and, at worst, an outright lie.

The wording which we wanted, seen below, called for water companies to...

1) Take all reasonable steps to ensure sewage is not discharged
2) Demonstrate improvement in the performance of sewerage systems.

Neither of these are remotely close to what @mariacaulfield claimed and are simply asking for gradual improvements in the system.

That she has supplemented this bogus statement by suggesting that it would also result in homes being flooded by sewage is Project Fear at work 😡

This isn't a new tactic.

Following the vote, @Conservatives justified their actions by suggesting that the cost of eliminating sewage would be up to £600bn, a figure that was never explained and widely derided, with other estimates closer to £15bn.

endsreport.com/article/173176…

The wording that we ended up with asks for a 'progressive reduction in the adverse impact of discharges' rather than demonstrating 'improvement in the performance of sewerage systems'.

The subtle difference is water companies must lessen the impact of sewage releases, rather than discharging fewer of them.

One way to do this is to extend the outfalls and pump the sewage further out to sea, as @SouthernWater have planned in Tankerton.

southernwater.co.uk/the-news-room/…

Of course, this will still be catastrophic for marine life, the environment and the fishing industry, even if it might reduce the impact on swimmers and beach users 🐟

It is also a far cheaper option.

One positive outcome of the Environment Bill was the written promise that @DefraGovUK would publish a report, by September 2022, outlining their plan to tackle sewage pollution in the years ahead.

However, the @Telegraph reported that the plan has now been shelved and will be released in 'due course' with no fixed target date.

telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/1…

This was news to Bexhill MP @HuwMerriman, who appeared on @BBCRadio4 on Saturday stating that the report would be released imminently.

We Tweeted him for clarification on whether him or the @Telegraph were correct but received no reply 🤐

As a group, @SOSWhitstable strive to remain apolitical and merely want this problem to end by whoever can fix it.

However, we cannot ignore that the @Conservatives are the ruling party and have been idle, if not obstructive, when it comes to fixing sewage pollution 💩

And how are we to trust a political party whose MPs are unaware of developments within their own party and are seemingly willing to mislead the public to escape scrutiny?

#EndSewagePollution

We're calling for the entire water industry to be nationalised once again. 88,000+ have signed our petition in the last week.

If you agree, please sign and share: change.org/nationalise-wa…