Starmer accuses government of ‘turning Britain’s waterways into an open sewer’

Lib Dems call for Therese Coffey to resign after raw discharges sent into English rivers 825 times a day last year

Keir Starmer has accused the government of turning Britain's waterways into an open sewer", as data showed raw discharges were sent into English rivers 825 times a day last year.

Private water companies have been consistently accused of failing to take action, and the Environment Agency admitted there were more than 300,000 spillages into rivers and coastal areas in 2022, lasting for more than 1.75m hours.