Polluted beaches in the resorts of the North-West coast and the East coast and warnings against swimming in the waters around British beaches because of sewage pollution and a contaminated seashore.
The situation for some seaside resorts is grim, the public are being repeatedly warned about the bacteria in sea water and the very real risks of infections such as (IE) Intestinal Enterocci. Yet the Conservative government stands back, fails to empower the Environment Agency to take the necessary measures and turns a blind eye to the wealthy water companies and other polluters who are responsible for this chaos.
In the North of England, the two largest water companies are United Utilities and Yorkshire Water. While these two major players are failing to control sewage discharges into rivers and the sea, there are other polluters who are not being monitored or brought to court and punished.
Blackpool and the Fylde Coast
The water pollution warnings have been ongoing since 2020, 2021 and 2022, and this year from January through to June; not a good selling point for the traditional holiday beaches at Blackpool. Morecambe Bay has had repeated warnings about raw sewage pollution between May 2022 and August 2022, the regional newspaper the ‘Lancaster Guardian’ reported that sewage contamination of Morecambe Bay in May 2022 was the worst it had been for years and the situation was no better in August 2022 with specific warnings for sea swimming of the beaches at Morecambe and Heysham.
In the beginning of June 2023, eight beaches along the Fylde coast which includes the beaches at Blackpool, were officially closed due to serious health risks from raw sewage in the sea water. From April to June 2023 the following pollution warnings have been issued to people using the beaches of northern England, with specific warnings for swimmers and surfers.
Blackpool North, Blackpool central, Lytham
There are some concerns for all beaches down the coast from Blackpool perhaps even as far as Liverpool Bay. Allonby South (Cumbria) Silloth (Cumbria) are listed up from Morecambe Bay to the Solway. The East Coast of Yorkshire and the North-East Coast Bridlington South beach is the worst it has been for four years.
Scarborough North Bay
Scarborough South Bay was so bad that that surfers were warned not to go into the water because it was not safe. There was also pollution warnings for Hornsea, Tunstall and Tynemouth – Cullercoats. The beaches further north up the Northumbrian coast are under less threat but are being watched. Warnings have also been raised over Filey, Whitby, Redcar, Seaham and Saltburn.
In several months of 2022 the massive numbers of dead crabs, lobsters, shrimps and shellfish being washed up below the Tees estuary, in fact reports from the region suggested an extended section of coast was being impacted from Hartlepool down to Scarborough. This was not the result of sewage being discharged into the sea, but most experts believed it to be the result of deep dredging in the river bed of the River Tees, which resulted in decades of toxic chemicals being stirred up and spread into the North Sea coastal waters. It was reported that the shore at Marske-by-the-Sea was one of the worst affected.
The British water companies were sold off by Conservative governments in the great drive for ‘privatisation’ of utilities, but the Labour Party had no realistic answer to the problems faced by the British water industry either. In fact successive Labour governments allowed the sell off system to continue.
Many of the major water companies in the United Kingdom are now partly owned or controlled by overseas ‘investors’, hedge funds and pension companies. The quality of water including rivers and the sea are taking second place to executive salaries, share-holder bonus payments and corporate greed. Not only European based companies hold significant shares in British water companies, but US based Wall Street hedge funds are involved too.
As one US based correspondent told Broadsword: “these Wall Street guys don’t give a tuppenny damn about the pollution of rivers or beaches in some little place in the UK that they never heard of, will never visit, couldn’t find on a map. All that matters is the profit margin and board room bonus.”
Most telling of all was the fact that Thames Water, which governs all water services for London and parts of the Home Counties, and has a long record of failures, raw sewage discharge incidents and pollution, was in fact controlled by overseas investors for a full decade with dismal outcomes. From 2006 to 2016, Thames Water was under the control of the Australian based bank, Macquarie, and had a reputation for being financially asset stripped to the detriment of the British customers and the betterment of the overseas investors.
Environmental protection issues are not just the preserve of the political Left or the Greens, it is not just the concerns of left-leaning groups like Surfers Against Sewage, or Greenpeace. National Socialism was years ahead of the Greens until the Left captured the politics of environmental protection and ‘Green issues’ in the 1960’s.
British Movement believes in the National Socialist principles of Blood and Soil, Strength Through Joy – where is the concern for public safety and public enjoyment and relaxation when water companies pollute rivers, estuaries and the sea shore with sewage and contaminated water?
Over recent years British Movement, especially through the BM Women’s Division (BMWD), has organised summer time family events including beach activities under the Strength Through Joy agenda. How can such activities, with the focus on families and children be safely conducted when the sea is off limits to swimming because of raw sewage in the water? Not only does the risk of infection and serious illness affect humans, but on some contaminated beaches, the official advice is not to let dogs enter the water.
British Movement believes that a service such as water supply, water treatment, sewage and pollution control is a national issue, and a matter of national security. The water companies should never have been sold to investors outside the UK, foreign investment and control of British water companies should never have been permitted.
Prior to the great utilities sell off by the Conservatives, the regional water boards were ponderous, antiquated and typically dragged their feet over investment, repair and upgrades and environmental protection. However the privatisation of British water companies had made the situation even worse and once again the system of operation by corporate capitalism has shown itself to be a failure. Radical overhaul on a National Socialist model is the only solution.
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Top Image: Public Domain.
Bottom Image: Владимир from Pixabay.
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