Oxfordshire Lib Dem MPs vote to end sewage scandal
Oxfordshire Lib Dem MPs vote to end sewage scandal and introduce a new blue flag river status, in move blocked by opposition parties
Oxfordshire's five Liberal Democrat MPs say they're "disappointed" after their calls for a scheme to clean up rivers in the county were rejected by Labour and the Conservatives.
Olly Glover, Layla Moran, Calum Miller, Charlie Maynard and Freddie van Mierlo voted to introduce a new ‘blue flag’ status for rivers and chalk streams, which would clean up Oxfordshire's rivers and help to restore people’s confidence in swimming in local rivers and streams.
Labour and Conservative MPs failed to vote for the motion, blocking it.
The Lib Dem motion would have created a new Blue Flag status for rivers and chalk streams with measures to guarantee the river clean and safe to swim in. It also called on the Government to end the 'sewage scandal' of polluting our rivers and lakes, by overhauling the water sectors failing regulator, Ofwat.
On the failure of the government and the regulator Ofwat to prevent Thames Water from polluting Oxfordshire's rivers, Oxfordshire's five Liberal Democrat MPs have released a joint statement expressing their concern:
“Ofwat has done next to nothing to hold Thames Water to account on its dire pollution record. The company discharged raw sewage for almost 300,000 hours in 2024 - up by almost 50% on the year before.
"But Ofwat is also failing miserably in its duty to stand up for customers - letting Thames Water hike up bills of households across Oxfordshire, when more than a quarter of the amount we pay is going just to pay the interest on Thames Water’s billions of debt, is a disgrace. They are simply letting Thames Water line the pockets of its creditors at the expense of ordinary households across Oxfordshire.
"They are simply not fit for purpose and if is now down to the Government to get a grip on this dire situation.
"Expanding the blue flag scheme to rivers could give people in Oxfordshire the confidence to enjoy swimming in local rivers again, like the bathing place in Witney north of Early’s mill, where generations of people used to spend their summers swimming. We are disappointed that Labour and the Conservatives did not vote with us on this."
To qualify for blue flag status, an area must meet a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria. This would include:
year-round quality water monitoring
regular biodiversity assessments
robust legally binding targets to prevent sewage dumps
a whole catchment approach to prevent dumps up or downstream of the Blue Flag
the appointment of a local community group to represent the river and lead on community engagement
The Government’s own data has revealed that over 3.6 million hours of sewage was pumped into waterways in 2024. Liberal Democrat analysis revealed that the longest sewage spill of 2024 was by water company, South West Water, from one outlet dumping into Salcombe Regis Stream for 366 days - thanks to the leap year.
A YouGov poll revealed that the Liberal Democrats policy on blue flag status for rivers was the most popular policy at the last general election amongst voters.