A Tory MP has claimed he swam in sewage at a Welsh beach when he was a child. Damian Green, who was born in Barry, told ITV's Peston it was "sort of regarded as acceptable" to paddle in wastewater at Jackson's Bay.
The 67-year-old MP for Ashford, who leads the One Nation group of Conservatives, claimed attitudes towards sewage dumping have changed in recent years. "It’s a problem," said the former First Secretary of State. "I’m absolutely not denying that it is a big issue. But it always has been. It's interesting — I remember as a child in south Wales swimming in sewage. Jackson’s Bay in Barry used to be a sewage outlet where we all paddled and swam. And it was sort of regarded as acceptable. Of course it wasn't acceptable."
The Independent reports that water companies have pledged to invest £10billion in upgrades to cut sewage spills. But the trade body Water UK warned the public faces "modest upward pressure" on bills to cover the investment. Clean river campaigner Feargal Sharkey criticised the companies, telling the BBC: "They are now suggesting that we should pay them a second time for a service we haven’t had. We should have an apology for the suggestion they are going to put bills up by £10billion for their incompetence and their greed.”
Reacting to his comments, Labour shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: “Damian’s government has been in power for 13 years and his constituents suffered 570 sewage dumps last year. He shouldn’t be normalising it. When this is the response, no wonder the Tory sewage scandal is as bad as it is.”
One Twitter user said: “I’m not sure ‘I used to swim in shit, so you should happily swim in shit’, is the winning argument that Damian Green thinks it is.”
Celebrity scientist Brian Cox mocked the Tory MP, writing: "You were lucky. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before I went to bed, drink a cup of sulphuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad and our mother would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Hallelujah. And you try and tell the young people of today that ... they won't believe you"
As of last year Jackson's Bay was classed as having 'sufficient' water quality, the worst of any Barry beach. A Natural Resources Wales report found traces of sewage debris were observed in 20-30% of tests at Jackson's Bay from 2017 to 2020. Factors affecting the beach's water quality included combined sewage overflows, agricultural pollution and misconnections between sewage and water pipes, according to Natural Resources Wales.
Water UK, which represents the companies promising upgrades, wants to cut annual overflows by up to 140,000 by 2030, compared to the level in 2020. Its chairwoman Ruth Kelly said: “We’re sorry about the upset and the anger from the fact that there have been overspills of untreated sewage onto beaches and into rivers over the past few years. We’re sorry that we didn’t act sooner, but we get it."
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