Finally, the sun seems to be shining and the temptation is to head to our rivers, lakes and beaches. But, as most of your readers will know, this is not always a safe decision around here.

Take the River Wey. It runs through Bordon, Haslemere, Farnham and many places in between. The was an outcry when hundreds of fish were killed mysteriously here in March. Though this particular incident remains unsolved, the source of most of the River Wey’s pollution is a matter of public record.

During 2024, Thames Water was ‘permitted’ to discharge sewage into the river on 139 occasions in 2024. It flowed for more than 1,400 hours. In Farnham alone there was a discharge of over 10 hours every week on average.

Last week, the Daily Telegraph revealed that over and above the permitted amounts, there are countless illegal releases. Even the country’s areas of outstanding beauty aren’t exempt; more than sixty per cent have been hit.

Given all this, I find it astonishing that only three people in the water sector have ever been prosecuted for any environmental related crimes since privatisation. But they weren’t even given any penalty under the Conservatives. Not even a fine. And neither was any action taken against the water bosses who obstructed enquiries into illegal overflows.

So, I was delighted to see the Labour government introduce new powers last week to toughen up the law. These could see water executives who cover up illegal sewage spills imprisoned for up to two years – the toughest ever measures in history.

The new legislation will also provide powers to ban the payment of unfair bonuses for polluting water bosses.

This is vital because not only did the Conservatives fail to deliver investment in our broken water infrastructure, they also let our money be spent irresponsibly on bonuses and shareholder payouts amounting to over £41m since 2020 alone.

While the Conservatives are primarily responsible, they were aided and abetted by the Liberal Democrats. Funding for the Environment Agency was cut by half between 2010 and 2019. During half of this time the Lib Dems were sat at the cabinet table signing the cuts off. This led to a staggering drop in enforcement activity against the polluters.

And, as many of your readers will recall, the now Lib-Dem leader Ed Davey concluded in a review that water regulation “works and is not fundamentally flawed”.

Disappointingly this shameful record continues. The Liberal Democrats voted against the legislation to ban the payment of unfair bonuses and making polluting water bosses criminally liable for their actions.

Labour, in contrast, has made clear its determination to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. £104 billion of private sector funds will finally be invested in rebuilding and upgrading our water system, and an Independent Commission into the water sector has been launched – the largest review since privatisation.

This could be a sea change for our rivers and coasts.

John Gaskell

Chair, Farnham and Bordon Labour Party