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Social media outrage and viral footage of effluent discharging into the sea forced the government to change course
Perhaps it was an image that finally tipped the scales. After years of downplaying calls to stop the scandal of raw sewage being dumped in the UK’s waterways, the government was forced into an embarrassing U-turn this week as drone footage showing effluent pouring into the sea attracted wall-to-wall media coverage.
What some campaigners have been shouting about for years from the sidelines, suddenly became the subject of mainstream concern. Conservative MPs from coastal constituencies found themselves bombarded with letters and emails calling for an end to sewage releases into rivers and seas. On social media, images of poo-stained people emerging from British seas were trending. And all this on the eve of the UK government hosting Cop26.
