DIRTY WATERWAYS
Broken Reed
L ABOUR’s election manifesto criticised the Tories for “turning a blind eye” to “illegal sewage dumping”. Now it’s in government, has Labour got the message about a stinking issue that unites voters of every stripe? Not so far.
As Eye 1612 reported in December 2023, a Yorkshire angling club, the Pickering Fishery Association, had successfully challenged the environment secretary and Environment Agency for failing in their legal duty to prevent pollution thanks to ineffective river management plans. The high court judge ruled that measures to clean up the Upper Costa Beck, a renowned trout fly-fishing spot polluted by repeated “storm” sewage overflows (pictured), were so vague as to be ineffectual.