UK's rivers need protection...not economic growth

“We have a once-in-a-generation chance to fix pollution crisis’

- Charles Watson

THE DIRE state of our rivers emerged as one of the most hotly debated campaign issues during this year's general election. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens all competed to position themselves as the party most capable of addressing the shocking, inescapable fact that every river in the country is now polluted.

The dismal track record of the failing water industry - allowed to profit for years while treating our rivers like open sewers became a source of widespread public outrage, frequently raised on doorsteps and at election hustings.

We woke up on July 5 to the unimaginable sight of the Conservatives losing dozens of true-blue rural seats where the pollution of the local river had been front and centre of the campaign. In the catchment area of the River Wye, for instance one of the UK's most polluted rivers - the Tories held on to just one of their previously five "safe" seats, with two falling to Labour, one to the Lib Dems and one to the Greens.