A Good Party Is Hard to Find: Labour Has No Real Plan to Fix UK Rivers, Feargal Sharkey Warns

“A Good Party Is Hard to Find: Feargal Sharkey Singer Sharkey’s Labour Lament”

Feargal Sharkey once sang about matters of the heart, but now he’s crooning a different tune – one of political disappointment. The punk rocker turned environmental crusader is learning the hard way that a good political party, like true love, can be hard to find. After being wooed by Labour’s green promises, Sharkey finds himself facing a familiar refrain: campaign pledges often hit a sour note once the election music stops.

In a tale as old as politics itself, it seems the Labour Party has swiftly cast aside its pre-election promises, leaving environmental campaigners feeling high and dry. The poster boy of their green crusade, Feargal Sharkey – our very own river warrior – has now found himself in the unenviable position of criticising the very party he once championed.

Sharkey, who was paraded about by Sir Keir Starmer like a prized catch to lure in the eco-conscious vote, now laments that Labour has “no real plan” to tackle the sewage crisis plaguing Britain’s rivers. It’s a classic case of political bait-and-switch that would make even the most seasoned spin doctors blush.

The former Undertones frontman isn’t pulling any punches. He’s calling for a “root and branch” review of water industry regulators, describing the Environment Agency as “shambolic” and “hopeless”. One can almost hear the echoes of his punk rock days in his scathing critique of the bureaucratic status quo, and he’s right!

In a move that surely has Labour’s PR team reaching for the aspirin, Sharkey has announced plans for a mass rally in Central London on Saturday 26th October. Dubbed the “March for Clean Water“, it’s set to mark the end of Labour’s first 100 days in power and put some much-needed pressure on the Chancellor. It seems the honeymoon period for Starmer’s government is ending before it’s even begun.

'What we need right now is decisive, clear leadership and an urgency to this that is really going to grapple with this problem and fix it.'

Campaigner @Feargal_Sharkey tells @adilray and @kategarraway what he thinks of the government's planned water bill. pic.twitter.com/XJPAAti8gd

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 21, 2024

Sharkey expressed his deep frustration, stating, “The simple fact of the matter is I see nothing so far that is actually showing anything resembling a strategy and a cohesive plan to deal with either the sewage crisis, the environmental crisis, the agricultural farmyard pollution or indeed the over-abstraction of chalk streams.”

Charles Watson, chair and founder of River Action, echoed Sharkey’s concerns, emphasising that Labour’s current plans “do not nearly go far enough to deal with the scale of the problem they have inherited.”

“The initial noises coming out of our new government regarding cleaning up our filthy waterways, whilst encouraging, do not nearly go far enough to deal with the scale of the problem they have inherited. Nothing short of wholescale reform of our failed regulatory system and comprehensive strategies to address all major sources of pollution, including sewage discharges and agricultural run-off, will suffice. On the 26th of October the public will make this point very clear to Sir Keir Starmer in no uncertain terms.” – Charles Watson.

While Labour has introduced several policies aimed at addressing the sewage crisis—such as imposing restrictions on bonuses for water company executives and offering refunds to customers when companies fail to invest in infrastructure—these measures are seen by campaigners as insufficient. Ministers have also committed to introducing a Water Bill within the next year, which promises automatic fines for polluting water companies and criminal sanctions for those responsible for serious environmental breaches.

However, the government has yet to clarify whether it will increase funding to improve water quality, such as boosting resources for the Environment Agency or providing financial support to farmers to reduce agricultural pollution.

Sharkey highlighted the mixed signals from ministers, pointing out that while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has vowed to curb water company bonuses, the Treasury has simultaneously resisted reintroducing caps on banker bonuses. He argued that bonus restrictions alone are unlikely to be effective, recalling that when similar measures were introduced in the City a decade ago, “everybody just doubled their salaries.”

To address these issues, Sharkey rightly calls on Environment Secretary Steve Reed to initiate a “root and branch” review of the water company regulators, Ofwat and the Environment Agency, which he claims have “utterly failed both consumers and the environment.” He suggests that an independent commission be established to conduct this review and report back to Parliament within six months.

Ofwat, the economic regulator for the water industry, is responsible for determining how much companies should invest in infrastructure and how customer bills should be adjusted to fund these investments. However, water companies have been accused of underinvesting in their networks for decades, leading to widespread sewage spills into lakes, rivers, and seas. Ofwat has been criticised for its role in allowing this underinvestment to persist.

“We call on the Government to end the environmental devastation being inflicted upon our rivers, lakes and seas. It stops here, it stops today, it stops now. End pollution, end polluting for profit. Government must order an urgent root and branch review of the failed oversight and regulation of the water industry.  It is now time to hold to account those industries that for too long now have been allowed to knowingly and wantonly pollute our waters driven by nothing more than profit and greed. We call on everyone in the country who is concerned or angry at the state of our waters to join us and march.”

Feargal Sharkey

In response to growing public outrage over the sewage crisis, water companies have proposed investing £105bn in their infrastructure over the next five years, but have said they will need to increase bills by up to 73 per cent in order to do so.

Ofwat has provisionally approved smaller, but still significant, bill rises, that will see customer bills rise by an average of £94 over the next five years.

Sharkey said it was “outrageous” that water companies were being allowed to increase bills by this amount, and accused Ofwat of “dithering around, incapable of acting and protecting the public interest”.

He said the Government should step in and “freeze” bill increases until an independent review of the industry is carried out.

The Environment Agency is responsible for enforcing environmental laws, but the department’s funding has been dramatically cut in recent years.

Sharkey will be joined by celebrities and environmental groups, including River Action, Surfers Against Sewage, British Rowing, the Wildlife Trusts and Chris Packham.

Although Labour has announced a number of policies to tackle the sewage crisis, Sharkey said more needs to be done.

“We need to tear the whole thing down and start all over again. I don’t think there’s any point pretending that is not what’s going to have to happen,” he said.

Campaigners on the March for Clean Water are calling on the Government to back up its words with cash.

BBC Springwatch presenter and environmentalist, Chris Packham, will be joining the protest.

He told iNews: “I’m sick of being ripped off, fobbed off, lied to and poisoned by greedy rich bastards, inept regulators and lazy governments. Let’s spill out of the rivers and on to the streets and put the shits up them.”

I’m sick of being ripped off, fobbed off, lied to and poisoned by greedy rich bastards, inept regulators and lazy governments. Let’s spill out of the rivers and on to the streets and put the shits up them.

Chris Packham

Mr Watson said: “The initial noises coming out of our new Government regarding cleaning up our filthy waterways, whilst encouraging, do not nearly go far enough to deal with the scale of the problem they have inherited.

“Nothing short of wholescale reform of our failed regulatory system and comprehensive strategies to address all major sources of pollution, including sewage discharges and agricultural run-off, will suffice.”

The irony is palpable. Labour, which rode into power on a wave of promises to clean up Britain’s waterways, now finds itself in the crosshairs of the very environmental groups it courted. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a political blunder of significant proportions, with Sharkey at the forefront and a frustrated public at his back. Prime Minister Starmer must take urgent action to address this brewing crisis.

As Labour Labour navigate the murky waters of environmental policy, they might do well to remember that in politics, as in punk rock, authenticity is everything. For now, it appears that Labour’s environmental promises have gone the way of so many campaign pledges before them – down the drain.

However, the March for Clean Water serves as a powerful reminder that citizens and activists are unwilling to let politicians off the hook. It represents a growing movement demanding tangible action on environmental issues, holding the government accountable for its promises and pushing for meaningful change in the face of bureaucratic inertia and corporate interests.

Of course, we all know the real solution is ‘Natinalisation‘.