On Tuesday 25th April, the Government blocked a new law which would have clamped down on water firms found to be discharging sewage into rivers, lakes and coastlines.
Nearly 300 Conservative MPs voted to block the bill which would have introduced automatic fines on water companies breaking their sewage dumping permits. Dominic Raab, forced to resign just a few days earlier as Deputy Prime Minister in the wake of a damning report on his bullying behaviour, could not even be bothered to turn up to Parliament on an issue that is a top concern for his constituents in Esher and Walton.
Opposition MPs, including the Liberal Democrats supported the Sewage Discharge Bill.
The Sewage Discharge Bill would have:
Last year, raw sewage was pumped into rivers and seas for 1.75 million hours, an average 825 times per day, according to official Environment Agency data. In Esher and Walton, the River Mole had sewage dumped into it more than 200 times last year, for a total of 3000 hours.