‘Beyond a joke’: Anger after government refuses to back bid to protect waterways from raw sewage

Published

4 years ago

October 26, 2021

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Campaigners have expressed their anger after the government voted down an amendment to a bill that would put a legal duty on water companies to stop raw sewage from being dumped into waterways.

They are calling for water companies to pay to restore England’s coastlines after pouring sewage into rivers and the sea.

Last week, MPs voted by 268 to 204 with the government to defeat an amendment to the Environment Bill tabled in the Lords which sought to place a new duty on water companies to reduce raw sewage discharges into rivers and demonstrate reductions in the harm caused by the discharges.

A total of 265 Conservative MPs helped vote down the amendment, while 22 rebelled against the government and voted in favour.

Sewage can be pumped out of the sewerage system and into rivers through combined sewer overflows – otherwise known as a storm overflow or release valve.

The overflows are designed to release excess water following heavy rainfall or a storm to stop sewage backing up into homes.

To stop this happening, water companies are allowed to release the rainwater, and a smaller amount of untreated sewage into the country’s waterways.

The Environment Agency has reported that in the last year, raw sewage was discharged into coastal waters and rivers in England more than 400,000 times, which Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) branded “unacceptable”.

Commenting on footage of raw sewage being released into the rivers and seas around the country, Luke Pollard, Labour’s shadow Defra secretary, said: “People are right to be upset at the dreadful state of England’s rivers.

“Not one English river is in a healthy condition and there has been zero improvements since 2016.

“The government is to blame for allowing water companies to vent raw sewage into our rivers and sea seemingly at will.

“The Conservatives should urgently U-turn on their decision to block the Environment Bill amendment so that water companies are forced to reduce the amount of sewage they pump into our rivers and seas.”

Hugo Tagholm, the chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, said water companies have not “got a right to destroy these spaces”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “The amendment that is being called for is reasonable. We believe the water companies need to cut into dividends they make every year to restore our rivers and our coastlines.

“They haven’t got a right to destroy these spaces and need to take the ambitious steps to restore them and we need to make sure the industry is not putting their profits ahead of making our spaces safe.

“We were really disappointed that MPs failed to back this common sense amendment to put the legal duty on water companies to invest in the right infrastructure to stop raw sewage pollution pouring into our rivers and into our ocean.

“It’s gone beyond a joke now. Last year alone water companies were responsible for over 400,000 separate sewage pollution events.”

Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “We completely agree the current failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is unacceptable.”

He added that “tougher legal duties” were being placed on water companies and “we will continue to listen to MPs who have legitimate concerns”.

It has been reported that it would cost between £150bn and £160bn to make waterways safer.

Defra says this work would include the complete separation of the sewerage systems which could lead to “potentially significant disruption for homes, businesses and infrastructure across the country”.

However, they have “made it clear to water companies that they must significantly reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows as a priority”.

The Bill will go back before peers for scrutiny after the amendment was voted down.

Politics

Coinbase refuses $20M ransom after support agent data breach

Published

1 hour ago

May 15, 2025

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Coinbase refuses M ransom after support agent data breach

Coinbase, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, was hit by a $20 million extortion attempt after cybercriminals recruited overseas support agents to leak user data, the company said.

According to a May 15 blog post, Coinbase said a group of external actors bribed and coordinated with several customer support contractors to access internal systems and steal limited user account data.

“These insiders abused their access to customer support systems to steal the account data for a small subset of customers,” Coinbase said, adding that no passwords, private keys, funds or Coinbase Prime accounts were affected.

Less than 1% of Coinbase’s monthly transacting users’ data was affected by the attack, the company said.

Coinbase refuses $20M ransom after support agent data breach — *Source:* *Coinbase*

After stealing the data, the attackers attempted to extort $20 million from Coinbase in exchange for not disclosing the breach. Coinbase refused the demand.

Instead, the company announced it was offering a $20 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the scheme.

Scammers often masquerade as recognizable brands to inspire a false sense of trust in their victims.

In 2024, Coinbase was the most impersonated cryptocurrency brand by scammers.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Politics

Sir Keir Starmer in talks with ‘a number of countries’ over return hubs for failed asylum seekers

Published

3 hours ago

May 15, 2025

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Sir Keir Starmer in talks with 'a number of countries' over return hubs for failed asylum seekers

The UK is in talks with “a number of countries” about sending failed asylum seekers to return hubs in third countries, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister confirmed the plan at a press conference alongside his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in the country’s capital, Tirana.

Politics Live: Britain’s economy grew more than expected in first quarter of 2025

Sir Keir described the hubs as a “really important innovation” that complements other measures the government is taking to crack down on criminal smuggling gangs.

“We are in talks with a number of countries about return hubs,” he said.

“At the appropriate time, I’ll be able to give you further details in relation to it.”

Sir Keir did not say which countries he is in talks with, but Mr Rama suggested he is not open to hosting UK detention centres as Albania has already signed a deal for Italy to build them there.

“We have been asked by several countries if we were open to it, and we said no, because we are loyal to the marriage with Italy and the rest is just love,” he said.

Earlier, Sir Keir told GB News that the hubs would be for people whose asylum applications have failed and they have exhausted all avenues to appeal.

This is a different concept to the Tories’ failed Rwanda scheme which Sir Keir scrapped almost immediately after winning the general election.

The Rwanda plan involved deporting all people who arrived in the UK by unauthorised means to the east African country, where their asylum claims would be processed for them to settle there, not in Britain.

Return hubs would be an offshore location to hold migrants set to be returned to their home countries and who have no chance of remaining in the UK.

The Rwanda scheme failed to get off the ground before the Tories lost the election, despite millions spent, after it was repeatedly challenged in the courts.

Shadow home office minister Chris Philp today insisted it would have acted as a deterrent, whereas the return hubs are a “con on the British public”.

He said: “It’s better than nothing but it won’t work because most of the people crossing the Channel are of nationalities where they will get their asylum claims granted.

“It’s a con on the British public for Keir Starmer to claim these return hubs will have any practical effect.”

Mr Philp also called it a “slap in the face” and “humiliation” for the prime minister that Albania has already rejected the idea, saying he’d travelled all that way to “announce a few tweaks” to a cooperation deal that was put in place by the Conservatives.

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Politics

Ukraine strategic Bitcoin reserve bill reportedly in final stages

Published

3 hours ago

May 15, 2025

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Ukraine strategic Bitcoin reserve bill reportedly in final stages

Ukraine is reportedly moving closer to adopting Bitcoin as a national reserve asset, a move that could bolster its financial resilience amid the ongoing war with Russia.

Lawmakers are reportedly working on a Bitcoin (BTC) national reserve proposal, with a draft bill in its final stages, according to Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of parliament who confirmed the plan to local media outlet Incrypted.

The proposal was announced during the CRYPTO 2025 conference in Kyiv on Feb. 6. “We will soon submit a draft law from the industry allowing the creation of crypto reserves,” Zhelezniak said.

Cointelegraph reached out to Zhelezniak for comment on the bill’s status but had not received a response by publication.

Bitcoin has gained international attention as a national reserve asset since the election of US President Donald Trump in November 2024. On March 7, Trump signed an executive order to establish a national Bitcoin reserve seeded with BTC confiscated from criminal cases.

A month later, Swedish MP Rickard Nordin issued an open letter urging Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson to consider adopting Bitcoin as a national reserve asset, citing its growing recognition as a “hedge against inflation,” Cointelegraph reported on April 11.

Legal challenges may delay adoption

While Ukraine’s push for a national Bitcoin reserve marks a potentially historic shift in crypto policy, it may require “significant legal change,” according to Kyrylo Khomiakov, regional head of CEE, Central Asia and Africa, at crypto exchange Binance.

“We commend Ukraine’s ambition to establish a strategic crypto reserve,” he told Cointelegraph. “Implementing such a reserve would necessitate significant legal changes, indicating that this process will not be swift.”

He added, “Another positive aspect is that this initiative will likely lead to greater regulatory clarity in Ukraine, as the government will need to articulate its stance more clearly.”

Ukraine was reportedly planning to legalize cryptocurrencies in early 2025 with the finalization of a draft bill in coordination with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Daniil Getmantsev, head of the tax committee of the Verkhovna Rada.

On April 8, Ukraine’s financial regulator proposed taxing certain crypto transactions as personal income with a rate of up to 23%, excluding crypto-to-crypto transactions and stablecoins.

Not all voices in Ukraine’s crypto industry are optimistic about the timing of the proposal.

”The country is broke. More than 50% of the budget is in grants and loans from the European Union,” said Michael Chobanian, the founder of Ukraine-based Kuna exchange.

“The population is decreasing at the fastest rate in the world. Men are kidnapped and sent to the army against their will. What kind of BTC reserves are we talking about here? This is done only to divert your attention,” Chobanian claimed.