Embargoed until 22.30 Wednesday 27 March
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today warn that Rishi Sunak is facing a “sewage backlash” at the ballot box in May’s local elections, on a visit to West Dorset as part of his campaign tour of the West Country.
Ed Davey will be meeting CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, Giles Bristow, and visiting West Bay beach, a popular tourist destination where pollution alerts were put in place after raw sewage was discharged last year.
The Liberal Democrats have led the campaign in Westminster to tackle the sewage scandal since 2021, and it's been a key issue in their big victories in previous local election campaigns and four parliamentary by-election wins.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for the water industry to be “ripped up from top to bottom” to ensure profit is no longer put above environmental goals, and the creation of a new tougher regulator to replace Ofwat. Since the LiberalDemocrats were the first party to call for a ban on water firm executive bonuses over two years ago, a number of water CEOs have given theirs up.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
“Rishi Sunak and Conservative MPs are facing a sewage backlash after years of blocking tough measures to crack down on water firms. The water industry needs to be ripped up from top to bottom, to stop profits and shareholders’ dividends driving everything. It is time to start again.
“Sunak may have bottled a General Election, but he cannot hide from voters in the local elections where communities will voice real anger at this environmental scandal.
“From Dorset to Yorkshire, lifelong Conservative voters across the country are switching to the Liberal Democrats because they’re fed up with seeing their rivers and beaches ruined by sewage.
“Under this Conservative government both sewage in our rivers and water company profits have increased hand in hand. Enough is enough: it is clear the only way to end this sewage scandal is to boot the Conservatives out of government.”
ENDS
Notes to Editor
Story on pollution alerts in West Bay beach after sewage was discharged last year (Bridport News, June 2023)