Tories can't blame the Victorians for sewage pollution | Letter

Margaret Thatcher's privatisation of water companies led to huge dividends for shareholders and enormous CEO salaries, but not investment in our water infrastructure, writes Rosie Brocklehurst-FranczakBlaming human sewage pollution in all our rivers and miles of coastal waters on "Victorian infrastructure", as Conservative MPs have done (UK government U-turns on sewage after Tory MPs threaten rebellion, 26 October), is like Kent county council's charge that the Romans are to blame for the potholes in Kent's roads.Investment in our water and sewage infrastructure should have begun the moment Margaret Thatcher's privatisation of the 10 regional water companies began in 1989. Instead, huge dividends to shareholders and enormous CEO salaries gobbled up a large part of the ?150-?660bn that might have given us clean water today. Continue reading...