Daily Politics from the New Statesman Thames Water's careless vandalism
Apr 3, 2026
Charlie Maynard, Liberal Democrat MP and leading campaigner against water pollution, speaks about rampant sewage spills in his constituency. He discusses whistleblower revelations, ageing infrastructure and how financial failures and opaque practices let Thames Water evade accountability. He also outlines why tougher enforcement, debt overhaul and new ownership models are being pushed as fixes.
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New Regulations Haven't Reduced Sewage Spills
- New regulatory duties since the 2021 Environment Act have not reduced pollution; 39,000 spills were recorded, ~8,500 illegal over five years.
- Research shared with the New Statesman shows no meaningful decline in illegal spills despite reforms.
Ground Zero For Sewage In A Constituency
- Charlie Maynard describes his constituency as ground zero for sewage with schools repeatedly closed because sewage has flooded toilets and floors.
- He cites Standlake and Witney where spills have been almost non-stop since December and children sent home four times due to sewage running through school buildings.
Aging Pipes Are The Root Cause Of Repeated Spills
- Old, poorly maintained sewer pipes let groundwater in, overpowering treatment works and repeatedly causing untreated sewage to spill into rivers.
- Maynard says pipes from the 1950s–80s leak like sieves and sealing them at scale is technically straightforward but not being done.