Triathlon championship contestants fall ill after swimming in polluted water. Who pays?
A prediction that has come true: water discharged into rivers and seas isn’t expected to be drunk. But it has been – and it was full of raw, untreated sewage because the government has allowed privatised water firms to avoid the expense of purifying this water. Will that decision come back to haunt the politicians and the water tycoons now people have become ill?
This should be self-explanatory:
57 swimmers in the World Triathlon Championship on Sunderland beach fell sick and got diarrhoea last weekend.
Sampling showed E Coli levels to be 39 times higher than usual.
We must end privatisation of our water to stop sewage being discharged into our rivers and seas.
— Breakthrough Party 🟠🌤️ (@BThroughParty) August 6, 2023
2023: BBC News, "57 swimmers were taken ill following a world triathlon race in Sunderland."
2019: Theresa May to Zac Goldsmith, "We are committed to ensuring our environmental standards do not fall after Brexit.. It is our desire to enhance our environmental standards in the… pic.twitter.com/PzsWHSxvPr
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) August 6, 2023
2014: Liz Truss, "Under a Conservative government, Britain will lead the world in food, farming and the environment."
2023: Daily Star, "We were left swimming in sh*t' triathlon contestants complain after sewage discharge pic.twitter.com/dxiw0w30Zd
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) August 6, 2023
2020: Boris Johnson, "In many instances, the UK's standards are higher than those of the EU"
2023: "British beaches inundated with sewage while water quality across the EU dramatically improves." pic.twitter.com/Qspm49FzcW
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) August 6, 2023
Fifty-seven swimmers fall sick and get diarrhoea at world triathlon championship in Sunderland.
Consequence of water companies dumping raw sewage in rivers/seas and regulators/govt putting profits B4 people.
End privatisation. Fine/Prosecute directors.https://t.co/85sfnNg1zz
— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) August 6, 2023
The allegation is clear: people participating in the World Triathlon Championship Series in Sunderland have fallen ill after swimming in waters that have been found unexpectedly to have been polluted.
Swimmers complained that they were swimming “in shit”.
The local privatised water firm has denied any responsibility – but who else would have been capable of doing it?
This could be a crucial test case, regarding the continued – government-supported – pollution of the UK’s waterways with raw sewage.
It seems the UK’s Tory government, by allowing the privatised water firms to avoid their responsibility to purify water before releasing it back into the environment, has actively supported the infection of the nation’s citizens with disease.
It occurs to This Writer that, if evidence can be found linking the swimmers’ illnesses with the release of contaminated water by the company, then the organisers of the event – and the individual swimmers – would have a strong case for compensation against both the firm and the UK’s government.
Taking it further – if such a case is won, the Tory MPs who supported dumping raw sewage into the UK’s waterways won’t be too badly inconvenienced; it will be the public – those their decision has harmed – who will pay the legal bill and any fines.
But we should all remember it at election time. Right?
Oh look – here’s visual evidence of what’s happening all around our coasts right now:
Yaaaaaay another Brexit benefit… Sewage Sovereignty!
Raw sewage being pumped into the sea at Seaford, East Sussex. 🤮🤮 pic.twitter.com/OEcz7Ijiip
— Marie-Ann Detests Tories 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 (@MarieAnnUK) August 5, 2023
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the right margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
