POISON PEOPLE TO ENHANCE PROFITS.

Water companies in England and Wales have almost doubled their profits since 2019 despite continuing sewage dumping into rivers and seas. According to a Liberal Democrat analysis of Companies House data, during this parliament, which started in 2019, pre-tax profits at water companies have climbed by 82%. It found that in 2022-23, England’s water firms made £1.7bn in pre-tax profits – up 82% since 2018-19. Since 2018-19, water firms have made £4.2bn in pre-tax profits. It comes as a boycott is growing in the UK as more people refuse to pay the sewage element of their water bills over “appalling pollution”. One woman, Caz Dennett, from Weymouth in Dorset is refusing to pay sewerage charges from Wessex Water because of its “poor performance”. The 52-year-old previously told NationalWorld that she lives in a seaside town but “found out that Wessex Water were discharging huge volumes of sewage into the seas, right where holidaymakers and locals enjoy the beach, and where precious sea-life can be found.” She explained that in April last year she had “just had enough” and decided not to pay the sewerage part of her water bill as companies “will start listening when we turn off the money tap”. The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, said: “These eye-watering profits are a national scandal. Whilst our rivers, lakes and coastlines get destroyed by raw sewage, these polluting firms are laughing all the way to the bank. Frankly, the whole thing stinks.” The party will announce a range of measures to stop water companies from prioritising profit over the environment. It will call for an additional 16% levy on top of corporate tax for water firms, and ask for this to pay for river clean-ups and also the salaries of environmental journalists in each region. Mr Davey added: “This is concrete proof that under the Conservatives, water firms have prospered and got away with environmental vandalism. Britain needs a new wave of local journalists to hold polluting companies to account.”