For regular users of the UK’s lakes, rivers and coastal waters, the environmental cost of inaction over continued pumping of raw sewage is plain to see.
Even those who do not have the opportunity to enjoy the country’s waterways need only take a cursory glance at social media to see the depressing state of too many rivers and the seas.
It is why i and its sister title the New Scientist have launched a joint campaign with aim to force meaningful change to clean up our deteriorating water network.
But Rishi Sunak should be warned that there is also a very real political cost attached to the mistreatment of the country’s rivers by the water companies.
In many areas of the country, particularly the South and the South East, the apparent lack of Government urgency to tackle river pollution is already threatening to have an impact at the ballot box.
In several home county seats and constituencies along the south coast, the topic of raw sewage in our rivers and seas has become a key political battleground, with the Liberal Democrats increasingly of the belief it could cause voters to turn away from the Conservatives in traditionally Tory seats.
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According to Lib Dem activists, it is the biggest political issue on the doorstep after the NHS.
It is an area Mr Sunak can ill afford to neglect. The Tories continue to lag behind in the polls and the Prime Minister already faces a mountain range of challenges to turn the party’s fortunes around. Giving voters in Tory heartlands further reason to look to another party to address the issue of river pollution looks misguided.
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