‘Disgraceful’ amount of sewage still being dumped in English rivers, says environment secretary
The amount of sewage being dumped into English rivers remains “disgraceful”, despite improved monitoring, supposed investment by water companies and threats of penalties from government, the latest data reveals.
Overall, there was a 2.9% decrease in the number of sewage spills last year compared to 2023, according to water company data collected and analysed by the Environment Agency.
Despite this small improvement in the number of events, the duration of spills – the amount of time a water treatment plant discharges untreated sewage into a river or the sea – increased by 0.2%.
“This year’s data shows we are still a long way off where we need to be to stop unnecessary sewage pollution,” said Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency.
The EA says it has secured £10.2bn from water companies to reduce sewage dumping.
“While these improvements get under way, we expect water companies to do what customers pay it to do: ensure their existing assets are maintained and operating properly,” said Mr Lovell.
‘Stark reminder’
The latest data is bad, if not unexpected news, for the government.
“These figures are disgraceful and are a stark reminder of how years of underinvestment have led to water companies discharging unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas,” said Environment Secretary Steve Reed.
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Redgrave calls for river clean up
The government says part of its £100bn public infrastructure investment plans will address water pollution.
But repairing or replacing thousands of miles of ageing water pipes and dilapidated water treatment works, as well as building new ones, is expected to take decades.
This year, it also introduced the Water (Special Measures) Act which it said it would use to get “tough” on water companies.
The bill allows for the banning of bonuses for water company bosses failing to meet targets and allows criminal charges to be brought against companies in breach of the law.
The government, however, may soon find itself in the stink.
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Last week, environment watchdog the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) announced it was launching an investigation into whether proposed plans from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to clean up waterways are in breach of the law.
The OEP is to decide whether DEFRA’s plans, implemented by the Environment Agency and the water regulator Ofwat, are too generic and fail to address the environmental risk of sewage pollution at particular sites.
England, for example, is home to the majority of the world’s chalk stream rivers and streams that are particularly sensitive to sewage pollution.
‘Still broken’
For clean water campaigners, the latest data is just more of the same.
“The water industry is still broken,” said James Wallace, chief executive of River Action.
He added: “The numbers are staggering: over 3.6 million hours of sewage spills from almost 450,000 discharges.
“That’s equivalent to 412 continuous years of sewage polluting our rivers, lakes and seas.”
The frustration for consumers is that many of us will see significant increases to our bills in order to finance the investments being demanded by Ofwat and the government to meet pollution targets.
Last year, an independent Water Commission was launched by the government.
Led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, it is charged with coming up with long-term reforms for the way water companies are regulated.
The commission should look at the structure and ownership of water companies themselves, according to campaigners.
“[It] must put an end to this failed privatisation experiment and force real reform of the industry and regulators,” said Mr Wallace.
“We need to learn from our European neighbours, and use finance and governance models that put people and nature before investors.”
Donald Trump may be denied the honour of addressing parliament on his state visit to the UK later this year, with no formal request yet submitted for him to be given that privilege.
It comes after President Macron’s successful state visit this week, in which he was invited to speak in front of both Houses of Parliament.
Sky News has been told the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, hasn’t so far received a request to invite the US president to speak in parliament when he is expected to visit in September.
It was confirmed to MPs who have raised concerns about the US president being allowed to address both houses.
Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, wrote to the speaker in April asking him to stop Mr Trump from addressing parliament, and tabled an early-day motion outlining her concerns.
“I was happy to see Macron here but feel very differently about Trump,” she said.
“Trump has made some very uncomfortable and worrying comments around the UK government, democracy, the Middle East, particularly around equalities and, of course, Ukraine.
“So, I think there are many reasons why, when we’re looking at a state visit, we should be looking at why they’re being afforded that privilege. Because, of course, it is a privilege for somebody to come and address both of the houses.”
But the timing of the visit may mean that any diplomatic sensitivities, or perceptions of a snub, could be avoided.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron addressed parliament during his state visit this month
Lord Ricketts, a former UK ambassador to France, pointed out that parliament isn’t sitting for much of September, and that could help resolve the issue.
In 2017, he wrote a public letter questioning the decision to give Donald Trump his first state visit, saying it put Queen Elizabeth II in a “very difficult position”.
Parliament rises from 16 September until 13 October due to party conferences.
The dates for the state visit haven’t yet been confirmed by Buckingham Palace or the government.
However, they have not denied that it will take place in September, after Mr Trump appeared to confirm they were planning to hold the state visit that month. The palace confirmed this week that the formal planning for his arrival had begun.
Mr Trump has said he believes the trip to the UK will take place in September. Pic: Reuters
When asked about parliamentary recess potentially solving the issue, Ms Osborne said: “It may be a way of dealing with it in a very diplomatic way… I don’t know how much control we have over Trump’s diary.
“But if we can manoeuvre it in a way that means that the House isn’t sitting, then that seems like a good solution, maybe not perfect, because I’d actually like him to know that he’s not welcome.”
A message from the speaker’s office, seen by Sky News, says: “Formal addresses to both Houses of Parliament are not automatically included in the itinerary of such a state visit.
“Whether a foreign head of state addresses parliament, during a state visit or otherwise, is part of the planning decisions.”
Mr Trump made his first state visit to the UK in June 2019 during his first presidency. File pic: Reuters
It’s understood that if the government agrees to a joint address to parliament, the Lord Chamberlain’s office writes to the two speakers, on behalf of the King, to ask them to host this.
It will be Mr Trump’s second state visit.
During his first, in 2019, he didn’t address parliament, despite the fact that his predecessor, Barack Obama, was asked to do so.
It was unclear if this was due to the fact John Bercow, the speaker at the time, made it clear he wasn’t welcome to do so.
However, it didn’t appear to dampen Mr Trump’s excitement about his time with the Royal Family.
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Speaking earlier this year, he described his state visit as “a fest” adding “it’s an honour… I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William; we have really just a great respect for the family. And I think they’re setting a date for September.”
It is expected that, like Mr Macron, the pageantry for his trip this time will revolve around Windsor, with refurbishment taking place at Buckingham Palace.
Fuel to the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last month appears to have cut off shortly after take-off, a preliminary report has found.
According to the report switches in the cockpit that controlled fuel moved to a “CUTOFF” position.
It said: “Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of one second.
“The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.”
The crash site. Pic: AAIB
There was then confusion in the cockpit. In the voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he “cut off”. The other pilot responds that he did not do so.
There were no conclusions as to how the switches were moved.
One of the engines was able to be restarted, but could not reverse the plane’s deceleration, the report found.
“At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to Boeing 787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers,” India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said in the report.
A diagram in the report shows how the plane crashed into a building. Pic: AAIB
No significant bird activity was observed in the vicinity of the plane’s flight path, the report said. The aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall, it added.
The plane plummeted into a busy area, killing 241 passengers and 19 others on the ground while incinerating everything around it.
The AAIB’s report is based on the initial findings of the probe, marking 30 days since the crash.
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Liverpool have retired the number 20 shirt in honour of Diogo Jota – the first time it has made such a gesture.
The club said it was a “unique tribute to a uniquely wonderful person” and the decision was made in consultation with his wife and family.
The number 20 will be retired at all levels, including the men’s and women’s first teams and academy squads.
A statement said: “It was the number he wore with pride and distinction, leading us to countless victories in the process – and Diogo Jota will forever be Liverpool Football Club’s number 20.”
The club called it a “recognition of not only the immeasurable contribution our lad from Portugal made to the Reds’ on-pitch successes over the last five years, but also the profound personal impact he had on his teammates, colleagues and supporters and the everlasting connections he built with them”.
Jota’s wife joined Liverpool players to view tributes at Anfield on Friday. Pic: Liverpool FC
Pic: Liverpool FC
Newly-married Jota died alongside his brother when his Lamborghini crashed in northern Spain on 3 July.
Police said this week that all the evidence so far suggests Jota was the one driving the vehicle.
Liverpool teammates joined members of Jota’s family, including his wife Rute, at a huge memorial site outside Anfield on Friday.
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A fan looks at messages on a memorial wall near Anfield. Pic: Reuters
Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson were among players at the funeral. Pic: Reuters
The star’s funeral took place last weekend, with Liverpool colleagues and members of the Portuguese national team in attendance.
Reds captain Virgil van Dijk carried a shirt bearing the number 20 made from flowers.
Liverpool players returned to the club’s training ground for the start of pre-season on Tuesday.
Their first game since Jota’s death will be on Sunday when they play a friendly away against Preston North End.
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