James O'Brien lambasts 'ludicrous lobby groups' for 'pumping poo' into local rivers

4 April 2023, 15:45

By Grace Parsons

As the government plans to tackle water pollution, James O'Brien calls out lobby groups who have 'free reign' to dump excrement in our waterways.

Following on from the government's proposed Plan for Water, James O'Brien expressed his exasperation at "ludicrous lobby groups" that "masquerade as think tanks" who are polluting our waterways, with excrement, at an alarming rate.

The government has said it wants to see more investment from water companies, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement for those who pollute. It also includes a consultation on a ban of plastic in wet wipes.

James said: "Surely when they are pumping poo, that's what they mean when they talk about 'let's have a bonfire of regulation' - Jacob Rees-Mogg, whatever sector he's talking about, they want to do the equivalent of making it easier for water companies to pump poo into your local river, into your waterway.

"And because of these ludicrous lobby groups masquerading as think tanks, without ever telling you who pays our bills, it gets presented to you in the British media as libertarianism or free market ideology.

"It's not, it's just here's someone with a tonne of money, who still wants more, doesn't care who suffers in the pursuit of their profit so if they happen to be the shareholders in a water company... fast forward a couple of years and they're pumping poo into your local river on a scale that frankly beggars belief."

James continued: "It's not complicated this stuff, it just doesn't get explained properly because the lobby groups masquerading as think tanks are in cahoots with the people that run the newspapers and they create the ecosystem that even places like the BBC don't properly investigate."

"You give big businesses free reign to pump money into their own pockets while pumping poo into your local river, and it should make us angrier," James argued.