• Brits less likely to swim in the sea due to sewage discharges, poll reveals
• Police taking over five hours to respond to priority calls
• Stop Voter ID: Govt are burying their heads in the sand
• Braverman’s boasts will “ring hollow” for crime victims waiting hours for police to turn up

Brits less likely to swim in the sea due to sewage discharges, poll reveals

A new poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed over three in four (77%) Brits who swim in lakes, rivers or the sea, have said sewage discharges have made them less likely to go swimming.

The poll found half of all UK adults go swimming in the country’s rivers, lakes or the sea. Shockingly, the majority of those adults are now less likely to go swimming in public areas as a result of water companies discharging sewage into waterways.

Swimmers over the age of 55 are far more likely to be put off by the sewage discharges – nearly 9 in 10 (87%) said the water firms’ actions had put them off swimming in lakes, rivers or coastlines.

Swimmers in the South East and West Midlands (83%) are also most likely to say sewage discharges have made them less likely to go swimming in lakes, rivers and coastlines.

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.

Key bathing water status locations, which attract swimmers from around the country, have been flooded with sewage. In the South West, Lyme Regis’ Church Cliff Beach bathing water suffered from 81 sewage discharges last year, lasting 1493 hours

Meanwhile, United Utilities dumped sewage into England’s largest lake, Windermere at the Millerground Landing bathing site for 1,305 hours from 67 separate spills.

The Government has also failed to grant bathing water status to locations across the country. The Liberal Democrats revealed in a parliamentary question that the Government turned down 9 in 10 applications for bathing water status since January 2022.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for urgent action to be taken ahead of the holiday season to protect swimming locations from sewage discharges.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

This is a national scandal. These polluting firms are shutting off beaches and lakes as a result of their foul sewage discharges.

Meanwhile their executives rake in multi-million-pound bonuses. Frankly the whole thing stinks.

The public no longer trusts the water they swim in to be clean. That is a damning verdict on this Government’s environmental record.

Why on earth isn’t the Conservative Government getting tougher on these water firms?

There needs to be urgent action taken to save our beaches and lakes before the summer season to protect swimmers and businesses.

Police taking over five hours to respond to priority calls

• Some police forces taking an average of over 18 hours to respond to priority calls

• Lib Dems warn police response delays leaving victims in “extreme distress” with risk of evidence and witnesses being lost

Police forces are taking an average of five and a half hours to respond to priority calls, which can include burglaries or domestic incidents, damning figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The figures were obtained through Freedom of Information requests to police forces, asking for their average response times to ‘emergency’ and ‘priority’ calls.

The average response time for calls categorised at Grade 1 emergencies, meaning there is an immediate threat to life, has increased by 9% in the past four years to an average of 16.5 minutes.

Meanwhile, the average response time for those assigned as Grade 2 priority incidents – which are deemed serious enough to require an urgent police response but with no imminent risk to life – has soared to just under five and a half hours in 2022. This is a 64% increase on the average response rate of just over three hours for priority incidents in 2019. Most police forces aim to respond to Grade 2 priority incidents within one hour.

Grade 2 priority incidents can include situations where an offender has been detained at the scene, there is the risk of the loss of a witness or evidence, or concern for a person’s health and well-being. These calls can include crimes such as burglaries, domestic abuse or grievous bodily harm.

The Liberal Democrats warned that the long response times meant crucial witnesses or time-sensitive evidence risk being lost, adding it was “unforgivable” so many victims are being denied justice. These figures follow previous research from the party showing the extent of crimes going unsolved – including nearly 75% of burglaries.

The data also reveals a disturbing postcode lottery, with response times varying significantly depending on the police force. Of the 19 police forces who responded, the worst performing force was Gloucestershire Police with an average response time for priority calls of a staggering 18.5 hours. This was followed by Derbyshire Constabulary, with an average wait time of 15 hours, and Avon and Somerset at nearly 13 hours.

Similarly, only one in four Grade 2 priority incidents in Avon and Somerset were responded to within the target time of 1 hour. Just 35% of Grade 1 emergency incidents in Cambridge were attended within the 15 minute target.

Avon and Somerset had the longest average wait for Grade 1 emergencies at over 26 minutes – almost triple the average 9 minute wait in Northamptonshire.

Wait times have deteriorated in nearly every local area that responded, with just three police forces reporting shorter Grade 2 response times in 2022 as opposed to 2019.

The Liberal Democrats argue that the Conservative government has left police forces overstretched, under-resourced and unable to focus on neighbourhood crime.

The party is calling for a return to community policing, where officers are visible and trusted, with the time to focus on responding to local crime.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

It’s disturbing that so many victims of crime are being left waiting hours after calling the police, often in extreme distress. People should be confident that if they’re in need, the police will respond swiftly – no matter where they are in the country.

Not only are victims left in distress, they could be denied justice in the process. Evidence and witnesses are at risk of being lost during these long wait times – and that’s unforgivable.

When it comes to neighbourhood policing, things just aren’t working under this Conservative Government.

After years of Conservative cuts and putting resources in the wrong places, it’s time to restore frontline community policing.

Stop Voter ID: Govt are burying their heads in the sand

Responding to the publication of the final figures on Voter ID showing that just 85,000 of the 2 million people who lack the right ID to vote applied for one under the Government’s new rules, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Local Government Helen Morgan said:

With the window to apply for free voter ID closed, the Conservative Government are continuing to bury their heads in the sand.


The new Voter ID regulations pose a serious danger to the delivery of and trust in our elections.

We are calling on the Prime Minister to back the Liberal Democrat Bill before Parliament which would stop the voter ID measures before too many people lose their voice in this year’s local elections.

Braverman’s boasts will “ring hollow” for crime victims waiting hours for police to turn up

The Liberal Democrats have warned that Suella Braverman’s boasts on police numbers will “ring hollow” for communities waiting hours for the police to turn up.

Research by the Liberal Democrats published today reveals police are taking an average of five hours to respond to priority calls such as burglaries, with some forces taking up to 18 hours.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted, and able to focus on neighbourhood crime.

Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said:

Suella Braverman’s boasts will ring hollow for communities that have seen community policing decimated under this government. Crime victims are waiting hours for police to turn up while the vast majority of burglaries go unsolved.

The Conservatives have taken thousands of community support officers off the streets and bogged down local forces in unnecessary tasks. They can’t even get the basics right on crime.

The Home Secretary can’t hide behind today’s statistics. She must finally commit to a return to community policing without delay. Otherwise, it’s just smoke and mirrors.