Your MP needs to hear from you.
Join a Mass Lobby
LOBBY FOR A CLEAN WATER BILL
In October, before the Clean Water Bill starts its journey through Parliament. We're going to meet MPs in person and ask them to put our health first and fight for the waters we love. Join us.
Events are being announced soon, check back here or our social media channels for more info.
WHY YOUR MP NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU
MPs are elected to represent you. But most of them will only ever hear about water pollution through headlines and briefing notes. Very few have stood on a beach or a riverbank in their constituency and been told, by someone who lives there, what has been happening to it. Or how many times the community has been made sick after surfing or swimming. Even how it saddens you to see the quality of water deteriorate in front of you. Those are the conversations that change things. And we need to be having them now more than ever before.
according to the proposed plans
THE BILL IS STILL DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE SYSTEM, NOT US
Because the proposed Clean Water Bill protects the system that caused the sewage crisis. It protects the water companies and their shareholders, not the public, our health or our waters. MPs have the power to fix this Bill and they work for us, not the water companies. They just need to know this matters to the people who voted for them.
So, WHAT IS THE MASS LOBBY?
Between 22nd and 26th October, that's what we will be telling our MPs across England, all at once in our Mass Lobby.
A lobby is simply a conversation with your MP. You, in the same place as the person who will vote on this Bill, and the opportunity to tell them how sewage pollution impacts you and the waters you love.
MPs work for us, not the water companies. But they only fight for what we tell them matters. MPs have the power to change this Bill. But they have a narrow window to do it in. Tell them to fight for a bill that puts our health, our waters and future generations first. Tell them to fight for the waters we love.
But why now?
For 35 years, privatised water companies have treated our rivers, lakes and seas as a dumping ground. They have underinvested in infrastructure, dumped raw sewage on a colossal scale, and paid the profits out to shareholders while hiking our bills.
Last year there were 288,649 sewage discharges in England. The privitised water industry has allowed this to happen and enough is enough.
Since privatisation in 1989, England's water companies have paid out more than £75 billion to shareholders while racking up £69.2 billion in debt. They were handed the infrastructure for free, debt-free, with £5 billion earmarked for environmental improvements. That money wasn't invested in pipes or sewage treatment. It was paid out to shareholders.
An average of 35 pence in every pound you pay on your water bill goes to service debt and shareholder returns, not to fix the infrastructure that's pumping sewage into our rivers. This is not bad luck or bad management. It is what happens when you run a public service as a profit extraction machine.
There are three ways in, depending on how much time you have.
HOW TO TAKE PART
Attend an event near you.
We're hosting Mass Lobby events in locations around the country, where you'll be supported to meet your MP alongside others from your area. We'll provide resources and brief you beforehand, so you turn up knowing exactly what to say. Events are being announced soon, check back here or our social media channels for more info.
Host your own event.
If there's no SAS event near you, we'll help you organise your own. You'll get training, resources and support from our team to bring your community together and get in front of your MP.
Go to your MP's surgery.
Every MP holds regular surgeries in their constituency, open to anyone who lives there. Book a place and tell them what sewage pollution has done to the water where you live. You don't need to know anything about parliamentary process. You just need to know why clean water matters to you. Get in touch to find out how to get involved: masslobby@sas.org.uk
Get involed...
You don't need to know anything about parliamentary process. You just need to know why clean water matters to you. Email masslobby@sas.org.uk now.