Fwd: This White Paper is a total whitewash

[Edward Mayer]

Dear Swift Friends & Colleagues,  Not irrelevant at all, but instead hugely relevant. All wildlife has to drink, and Swifts drink from streams, ponds and reservoirs, in flight of course. And if the water-bodies are polluted with sewage, anything that drinks the water become more vulnerable to disease and poisoning. Makes total sense doesn't it? So what is the government doing about it? See below!!! I think you can guess the answer! All the best, Edward

Spoiler: you can't polish a turd
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Hi Edward, Today the government released a White Paper, in what it’s calling “the biggest overhaul of the water system in a generation.” Let’s not dress this sh*t up.  This White Paper is a total WHITEWASH. After years of sewage pollution, record spills, rising bills and thousands of people being made sick, the government has chosen to protect a broken system - not fix it. They’ve repackaged failure, slapped a new label on it, and hoped we wouldn’t notice. But we have. 🤬🤬🤬

What the government is suggesting Ministers say their new Water White Paper will ‘fix’ the sewage crisis by: 💩 Scrapping Ofwat and creating a new ‘super-regulator’ 💩 Introducing ‘MOT-style’ checks on water company infrastructure 💩 Appointing a Chief Engineer to oversee assets 💩 Rolling out smart meters and efficiency labels for household appliances 💩 Promising stronger inspections and earlier intervention when companies fail But you can’t polish a turd. None of this tackles the real cause of the sewage scandal. This is not transformation - the system itself remains unchanged. A crisis caused by design - not accidents The sewage scandal isn’t happening because water companies lack inspections. It’s happening because our water system is designed to put profit before people and the planet. For decades, private water companies have been rewarded for pollution: 💸 £74 billion paid to shareholders 🤑 £69 billion loaded onto company debt 🤮 Over half a million sewage dumps in 2024 alone Yet the government has refused to confront this truth - even blocking the Independent Water Commission from properly examining alternative ownership and governance models. Instead, this White Paper is locking us into the same broken system, for decades to come. An 'MOT' won't fix a rotten industry The government says water companies are to get ‘MOT-style’ checks. So… if you give a sewage-spewing monopoly the same test as a 2008 Ford Fiesta, everything will be fine..?! 🚗 We hate to break it to you Keir: the privatised water industry doesn’t need an MOT - it needs taking off the road. Offering a few weak checks and energy-saving tips in the middle of a public health and cost of living crisis is frankly insulting. 🤬

People keep getting sick

Alice, a SEN teaching assistant and mother from Devon, took her 7-year-old Willow to a Cornish beach “Within hours of swimming, Willow became really unwell. She was sick for 12 days - vomiting, diarrhoea, losing weight and becoming delirious. Doctors confirmed cryptosporidium. She thought she was going to die. She’s now too scared to go back to UK beaches.”

Simon, a 61-year-old social worker and lifelong open-water swimmer, fell ill after swimming in Dover Harbour "I was training in Dover Harbour and started to feel unwell. I was shivering so much and was passing blood. I ended up in hospital for a week, where I was put on a drip with antibiotics and morphine. I was off work for two months and now take precautions."

We refuse to accept this The truth is glaringly obvious to everyone except this government. As long as the industry is structured to prioritise profit, people will keep paying the price with their health and soaring bills. Real reform means: 🌊 Putting public and environmental health first in law 🌊 Treating water as an essential public service, not a commodity 🌊 Ending rewards for polluters 🌊 Giving communities real power over decisions 🌊 Creating regulators that are independent, fearless and fully funded Until those changes happen, sewage will keep flowing - no matter how many press releases are polished or how many regulators get fancy new job titles.

What happens next? Ministers want this White Paper passed quickly and quietly. So we’re working hard behind the scenes to highlight exactly what it gets wrong and how we can push for real change. ✊ Now it’s up to MPs to stop these flawed reforms - and we need to pile on the pressure. 📣 So join the fight. Contact your local MP or MS. Let them know that their constituents demand clean water, real oversight, and an end to sewage pollution.  Use our action guides below to help! 👇 Get your MP action guide - England Get your MS action guide - Wales

Surfers Against Sewage is a national marine conservation and campaigning charity that inspires, unites, and  empowers communities to take action to protect oceans, beaches, waves, and wildlife.

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[amboyce...@gmail.com]

True Edward. It is exasperating and seems a repeated approach on pretty much every serious issue now.

 I shall email my MP, however I only ever receive weasel words in long responses that are worthless from Rebecca Paul, seemingly cut and paste from tory HQ.  They are too busy focussing on the culture wars they fed to distract from the really important things such as the basics of life: water, public health. 

I think they have all finally given up using ' lessons have been learnt' after 20 years of using it, whilst lessons have been firmly ignored for profit, repeatedly.

Best

Annie