Campaigners have warned that cuts to the Government’s environment department could “sink” Labour’s pledges to protect the nation’s waterways. More than two dozen activists and groups, including the RSPB, Chris Packham and The Wildlife Trusts, have penned a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of next week’s spending review.
Craig Bennett, CEO of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas are in crisis. Promises alone won’t clean them up – fully funded regulators will. Cutting the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) budget now would sabotage Labour’s own pledges.
“The public expects action, not excuses. Restoring nature must include restoring the agencies that protect it. This requires increased funding to ensure effective staffing levels, but also renewed independence. Agencies should be empowered to get on with their jobs free from political interference.”
As an unprotected department, Defra is more likely to face cuts in its budget on Wednesday. While the letter acknowledges the introduction of the Water Special Measures Bill and the establishment of the Independent Water Commission led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, whose interim report was published on Tuesday this week, it stresses that without urgent and sufficient funding, these efforts risk being little more than symbolic.
Only 14% of rivers in England meet good ecological status. And in 2024, 3.6 million hours of untreated sewage was discharged into waterways across England and Wales. James Wallace, CEO of River Action, said: “The Prime Minister made bold promises to end the sewage scandal and restore Britain’s rivers, seas and lakes. But without properly funded regulators, it’s all dead in the water.
“Labour campaigned to fix this crisis. Now they must govern like they meant it.” Lib Dem MP Jess Brown-Fuller grilled Sir Keir on when Britons will be able to see the changes he promised on cleaning the nation’s waterways during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
In response, Sir Keir said: “Well can I share her anger and frustration at the broken water system that we inherited, with frankly applying sewage, higher bills and executives paying themselves huge bonuses. And the era for being awarded for failing is over and we have convicted 81 criminal investigations for law breaking water companies in England, introduced the water act with prison sentences for polluting bosses. And banning unfair bonuses and we’ll close the water commission in full following the final reports. Keir.”
