Why this year’s Boat Race was a national disgrace - Yorkshire Post Letters

This year’s Boat Race was a national disgrace - not because of the athletes, but because of water companies dumping so much sewage in the Thames that the crews were in danger of contracting (often fatal) E Coli.

The age-old tradition of tipping the winning cox into the river this year had to be abandoned in case they died as a result.

The UK is an international laughing stock. We seem to be regressing to the Great Stink of 1858 which led to the development of London’s sewage system. Back then there was a danger of cholera. Do we have that again in 2024?

There are many health impacts from contact with raw sewage - gastroenteritis, hepatitis, e coli, typhoid - to name a few of the very scary ones. The water companies’ senior management who have allowed this to happen should be prosecuted. They have put lives at risk.

To be faced with this in the 21st century is also an unpardonable failure of governance, capitalism and privatisation. Those Conservative MPs and Ministers, who in the passing of the Environment Act 2021, voted against ‘requiring improved sewerage systems’, against ‘requiring a reduction in the harm caused by untreated sewage discharges’ and against ensuring ‘untreated sewage is not discharged’ are culpable.

At the time they said the reason they voted against was to protect consumers from increased bills - ironic given Thames Water’s recent bid to raise bills by 40 per cent. They said ‘we now have the legislation in place to deal with our archaic sewage system while also holding water companies to account’. Failure and lies.

Labour is going to have to match Atlee’s 1945 Government for us to get through this. Yes it will take ‘a decade of National Renewal’. Atlee followed the devastation of WW2 - Starmer will follow the devastation of Conservatism.