The Labour Party manifesto doesn’t say much about water, but it does include

• Putting water companies into ‘special measures’. Although there is no detail on what these measures might be, they could include
  • Giving new powers to regulators to block water bosses’ bonuses for pollution
  • Introducing criminal charges for persistent law-breaking and automatic fines for ‘wrongdoing’.
• Independent monitoring of storm overflows.

On the Radio 4 Today programme this week, Tim Farron from the Liberal Democrats said that in the first days of the new Parliament, the Liberal Democrats would as an urgent measure, whether it is in Government or in Opposition, seek to bring in a Clean Water Bill, the key cornerstone of which would be the creation of a Clean Water Authority to replace Ofwat.

Labour also promises to make Britain a clean energy superpower, including accelerating progress to net zero and improving resilience. There is also a Warm Homes Plan, with a pledge to “invest an extra £6.6 billion over the next parliament, doubling the existing planned government investment, to upgrade five million homes to cut bills for families.

A new government will also improve responsible access to nature, creating nine new National River Walks, one in each region of England.