• John Healey accused of misleading Parliament over Afghan data breach
• Water pollution: People fed up with empty promises
• Water ombudsman: We need fundamental change, not another layer of bureaucracy
• 521 spills recorded at private sewage plants but 5 sites not even required to monitor spills

John Healey accused of misleading Parliament over Afghan data breach

The Liberal Democrats have said the Defence Secretary John Healey appears to have misled Parliament over the Afghan data breach – and must “urgently come before Parliament to answer the question of whether he knowingly misled MPs and the public”.

Only three days ago John Healey told MPs in the House of Commons that no serving member of the armed forces had been put at risk by the data loss. This comes despite it emerging yesterday that over 100 British officials, including members of the special forces and MI6, were compromised in a data breach.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey called on the Defence Secretary to urgently come to Parliament and correct the record.

Responding to a question from Liberal Democrat MP Defence Committee member Ian Roome on Tuesday 15 July, John Healey said: “To the best of my knowledge and belief, no serving member of our armed forces is put at risk by the data loss.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Three days ago John Healey claimed no-one serving in the armed forces was put at risk by the data breach. Today we found out that appears to be false.

We need to know if any serving members of the armed forces were impacted – and the Defence Secretary must urgently come before Parliament to answer the question of whether he knowingly misled MPs and the public.

Liberal Democrat MP Ian Roome, who previously served in the RAF, added:

The Defence Secretary gave me his assurances just three days ago that no serving members of our armed forces were put at risk by this appalling data breach. I am very concerned to find out that this appears not to have been correct.

It is really important to restore public trust that he now clarifies his remarks. It is the least that our brave armed forces personnel along with the thousands of Afghans impacted deserve.

Water pollution: People fed up with empty promises

Responding to the Government’s announcement that it will cut water pollution by 2030 and deliver a “water revolution” Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP said:

People are fed up with empty promises from ministers while Britain’s waterways continue to be ruined by sewage.

We need to see far more ambition from this government with an end to all sewage dumping in bathing waters by 2030.

This report must not be used as an excuse to kick the can down the road on immediate reforms. We need to see action now including replacing Ofwat with a tough new regulator to end this national scandal.

For years water companies have paid out millions in dividends and bonuses. It would be deeply unfair if customers are now made to pick up the tab for this scandal through higher bills.

Water ombudsman: We need fundamental change, not another layer of bureaucracy

Responding to the Government’s announcement of a new water ombudsman to support customers, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

To effectively tackle the sewage scandal, we need fundamental change, not another layer of bureaucracy.

One of the reasons that the current system is failing is that there are too many weak regulators being played off by the powerful water companies.

A new water ombudsman may provide the possibility of redress for customers who for too long have been forced to foot the bill for failing water companies, while executives pocket extortionate bonuses.

Since 2022, the Liberal Democrats have been clear: Ofwat must go. If Ofwat remains in either name or nature, then the Government will have let the public down. Simply scrapping Ofwat but retaining a balkanised and weak regulatory framework will only be window dressing, so we are interested in the Government’s proposals but the jury is still out as to whether they’ll make much difference.

The sewage crisis has plagued our waterways for far too long, and we now need an effective, consolidated, powerful and independent body that finally holds water companies to account for the mess they’ve made.

521 spills recorded at private sewage plants but 5 sites not even required to monitor spills

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today revealed that the number of sewage spills recorded at sites operated by PFI companies rose to 521 last year.

A freedom of information request from Scottish Liberal Democrats has also revealed that five sites run by the companies are exempt from requirements to monitor sewage overflow events.

While most sewage overflows in Scotland are operated by Scottish Water, some are operated by PFI companies, with SEPA licensing PFI companies to operate sewage overflows at 12 locations, including the Seafield Sewage Treatment Works in Edinburgh.

Of these 12 licences, 5 (41.7%) do not contain any requirement to monitor the frequency and duration of sewage overflow events, leaving people in the dark as to the scale of sewage dumping at these sites.

Among the sites which provided data, there were 521 spills recorded, including 177 in Edinburgh, 153 in Whitburn, 90 in Blackburn, West Lothian, 60 in East Calder and 40 in Newbridge. At these sites sewage spilled for a cumulative 3,523 hours in 2024.

SEPA currently do not proactively publish what monitoring data does exist for these PFI managed sewage overflows so this data can only be obtained through freedom of information requests at present. In its report into sewage dumping in Scotland, Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) called on SEPA to proactively publish data from PFI overflows. Following further pressure from the Liberal Democrats, SEPA have now committed to begin proactively publishing this data in the autumn.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

Scotland’s sewage crisis stinks.

Not only are PFI companies routinely dumping sewage into Scotland’s waters, SEPA does not even require many of them to monitor how often sewage is being dumped.

Scots will rightly be concerned that they are not being given the full picture about this disgusting practice, we need to see all of these PFI overflows monitored. Scottish ministers need to stop their excuses and get tough on sewage dumping.

To turn the tide on this crisis Scottish Liberal Democrats have published plans for a Clean Water Act that would see a new blue flag system for Scotland’s rivers, as well as vital updates to our sewage network and a clamp down on discharges.