IT’S BEEN a huge week for clean river campaigners, with the government announcing a water Bill that it loudly trumpeted will rid Britain’s rivers, seas and lakes of pollution.

But will it? And are the polluters quaking in their boots? As usual it is important to read the small print rather than get intoxicated by grandiose statements. Sadly, we don’t think that what is proposed goes far enough to fix the underlying issues of water pollution in Britain. We fear it will merely tinker at the edges of a problem that is crying out for root-and-branch change.

First, though, let’s start by acknowledging the change in tone from the newly elected Labour government.