• GDP Stats: On the no growth path
• 72 billion litres of sewage pumped into the River Thames in just two years
• Welsh Lib Dem leader honours the fallen

GDP Stats: On the no growth path

Responding to the latest ONS figures which shows the UK economy stopped growing between July and September, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

Conservative chaos has delivered a hammer blow to our economy leading us down a no growth path.

Hard-working families shouldn’t be paying the price of the Conservative party’s economic vandalism.

The Autumn Statement should deliver a proper plan to grow the economy, fix our NHS and help with the cost-of-living crisis. Instead we’re set to see more of this Government’s failed approach.

72 billion litres of sewage pumped into the River Thames in just two years

• Liberal Democrats uncover “horrifying revelations” from Information Request to Thames Water

• Twickenham site suffers from almost 1 billion litres of sewage in just one day

• Local Liberal Democrat MP slams “environmental crime” and demands Thames Water is “ripped up” to form new company

The River Thames has suffered from at least 72 billion litres of sewage discharges since 2020, the Liberal Democrats have discovered.

The party, which issued an Environmental Information Request to Thames Water to obtain the data, has described the discharges as an “environmental crime”.

Water firms have no legal obligation to report the volume of sewage discharged, only the duration of the discharge. Earlier this year, Thames Water refused to hand over data on volume of sewage discharged, at the time labelled a “cover up”.

However, the Liberal Democrats have now found that Thames Water do in fact own sewage monitors which measure volume, and the figures reveal tens of billions litres of sewage pumped into sites across London.

The capital’s water firm used volume sewage monitors whilst constructing the Thames Tideway project. These are the only known sewage monitors of their kind fitted in the country, and do not cover the entire network. The total volume of sewage discharged into the Thames is therefore likely to be significantly higher than these figures.

These sewage monitors have revealed that last year alone, at least 14.3 billion litres of sewage was discharged into the Thames. The worst year on record is 2021, where a staggering 32 billion litres of sewage were discharged.

The worst impacted site since 2020 is Mogden near Twickenham, where 17.1 billion litres of sewage was discharged. On the 28th January 2021, Thames Water discharged almost 1 billion litres of sewage (964 million litres).

The second most impacted site was in East London, where 15.8 billion litres of sewage has been discharged at Crossness since 2020.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Twickhenham Munira Wilson has called for Thames Water to be ripped up. The Liberal Democrats are demanding water firms become “public good companies” – which includes placing environmentalists on their boards and no longer allowing them to put profit before protecting the environment.

Munira Wilson MP said:

These horrifying revelations are proof that Thames Water needs to be ripped up. It is outrageous that Conservative Ministers continue to sit on their hands and let Thames Water get away with this. The government is standing idly by whilst our rivers are poisoned and water firm execs pocket millions.

The era of water firms putting profit before the environment must come to an end.

These water firms are committing environmental crimes which are destroying our rivers and wildlife habitats, all whilst pocketing eye-watering sums of money.

What is most shocking is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. With almost every sewage monitor unable to measure the litres of sewage discharged, this figure is likely to enter the trillions. Water firms are fitting monitors which simply aren’t up to the job and hide the true horrors of their filthy sewage habits.

The government should force Thames Water to install new monitors which measure the volume of sewage discharged, so we can find the areas which need saving the most from this awful act.

Welsh Lib Dem leader honours the fallen

Tomorrow, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS will take the opportunity to pay her respect to those who have fallen in service of the UK armed forces.

Jane Dodds MS will be attending the national remembrance service on Sunday at the National War memorial in Alexandra Gardens in Cardiff.

Commenting, Jane Dodds MS said:

I would like to take this opportunity to express, on behalf of myself and the Welsh Liberal Democrats, our thanks to those armed forces personnel who have and or are currently serving our country.

Tomorrow and on Sunday we as a nation will mark our respect to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the name of democracy and freedom.

This weekend is about remembering those who have given their all to ensure the safety of our nation, as well as honouring those veterans who have gone through so much.

We must work tirelessly to ensure that our veterans are being supported both during and beyond this Remembrance weekend.