MP Tom Gordon demands Burnham overhauls broken water industry as Harrogate and Knaresborough sees 3,910 hours of sewage spills in waterways
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon , is demanding that Andy Burnham make the radical overhaul of the broken water industry one of his first acts as Prime Minister.
It follows new analysis of data revealing the devastating scale of environmental damage in Harrogate and Knaresborough where Yorkshire Water dumped sewage into local waterways for a staggering 3910 hours last year across 1069 separate spills.
Tom has continued to campaign for change, meeting with bodies including Yorkshire Water, the Environment agency and the Nidd Action Group. Despite being designated as bathing water in 2023, the Knaresborough Lido on the Nidd remains polluted.
Following years of environmental vandalism and financial mismanagement by water firms, the Liberal Democrats are calling on the new administration to abandon the failed privatisation model and hand water infrastructure back to the public via a customer-owned mutual model.
Specifically, the Liberal Democrats are calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to:
Put water companies into special administration immediately, permanently restructuring the company as a mutual run for the benefit of its customers.
Transition all existing water companies into public-benefit mutuals, owned by the people rather than the state, ensuring they are run for public health and the environment instead of private profit.
Abolish the toothless regulator Ofwat and replace it with a powerful new Clean Water Authority with statutory powers to enforce strict environmental standards and crack down on repeat offenders in North Yorkshire and across the country.
End the Great Sewage Cover-Up by forcing water companies to report the volume, not just the duration, of sewage spills.
Implement an immediate, legally binding ban on all water company executive bonuses, free from loopholes.
Ensure full accountability by recusing Number 10 advisor James Purnell from any involvement in decisions regarding Thames Water, given his previous work for a firm advising private utilities and major investors.
Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Tom Gordon said:
"For years, people across North Yorkshire have watched in anger as rivers like The Nidd have been pumped full of filthy sewage, all while foreign asset managers and corporate executives pocket billions.
"It is an absolute insult to local families that Yorkshire Water is reporting profits while our local environment is routinely trashed and our water bills continue to rise.
"Andy Burnham has a clear choice in his first weeks in Number 10: stand up for communities like ours in Harrogate and Knaresborough or let the same broken, polluting system continue.
“We need a clean break from the failed privatisation experiment - wiping the slate clean of vulture capital debt and handing our water infrastructure back to the people who actually use and rely on it."