Thursday briefing: Why Britain’s polluting water companies are refusing to make amends

An aerial view shows the outfall into the River Thames, at Thames Water's Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, in south east London on July 3, 2023. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Good morning.

Last year, government ministers demanded water industry executives create a plan to tackle the mounting crisis of untreated sewage in Britain’s rivers and seas. To pacify growing public anger, water companies offered an apology, pledging to invest £10bn over the next decade and promising to reveal an “unprecedented plan” to “put it right”. The plans were supposed to be published in August, but four months later publication has been delayed yet again, even though the problem is getting worse.