(Bristol East) (Lab):...I
congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gower () on her introductory
remarks. As has been said, England has the worst river quality in
Europe: 0% of rivers meet good chemical standards, and only 14%
meet good ecological standards. We heard how raw sewage was
dumped into rivers more than 400,000 times last year. I pay
tribute to campaigners such as Surfers
Against Sewage for the role that they play with the
ocean conservation all-party parliamentary group. They have been
pressing on this issue for a very long time. I also pay tribute
to the indefatigable Feargal Sharkey...
(Islington North) (Ind):...We
should pay tribute to some wonderful people who have done great
work in trying to clean up our rivers: those who regularly
voluntarily monitor water quality in our rivers, those who
campaign to end the culverting and canalisation of rivers so that
we have a more natural environment and flood plains, and those
brilliant people—particularly on the north coast of Cornwall— who
formed Surfers Against
Sewage which has been so successful in drawing
attention to the filth that is in our seas...
(Plymouth, Sutton and
Devonport) (Lab/Co-op): This has been a good debate so far,
and one that has reflected the strength of feeling in all our
communities, no matter which party represents them. I thank my
hon. Friend the Member for Gower () for opening this debate
in such a coherent and clear way. A lot of people feel strongly
about this topic, including the 207 people from Plymouth, Sutton
and Devonport who have signed the petition, and that is testament
to the campaigners, who have raised this issue for quite some
time. I am grateful to Ferry Harmer, who organised this petition,
but also to campaigners from Surfers
Against Sewage to Feargal Sharkey, to wild
swimmers the nation over and to people who just think that this
is not right; there are many of them. We are living in a climate
and ecological emergency, and that matters, because it challenges
us to do things differently from how we have done them before...
To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE
