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Politics
Joel Beard
May 18, 2023
Tory MP recalls swimming in sewage as a child
content.jwplatform.com
Conservative politicians get nostalgic over the weirdest things. As the public outcry over water companies dumping sewage into rivers continues, senior Tory Damian Green appeared on ITV’s Peston to claim it used to be considered “acceptable” to swim in excrement.
Speaking to the broadcaster’s deputy political editor Anushka Asthana (stepping in for the show’s namesake, who’s reporting on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s G7 visit to Japan), the Ashford MP acknowledged the scandal was a “problem”.
He said: “I’m absolutely not denying that it is a big issue, but it always has been interesting. I remember, as a child in South Wales…”
“Swimming in sewage,” asked Asthana.
Green nodded: “Swimming in sewage, absolutely. Jackson’s Bay in Barry used to be a sewage outlet where we all went and paddled and swam, and it was sort of regarded as acceptable.
“Of course it wasn’t acceptable.”
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A day after the politician made the comments, industry body Water UK apologised for sewage spillages and admitted “more should have been done”.
As Green shared the anecdote, fellow guest and shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth could be seen turning his head away in disbelief.
Twitter users couldn’t believe it either:
\u201c@itvpeston @DamianGreen And Damian\u2019s been up to his neck in it ever since. \n\n#ToriesUnfitToGovern\u201d— Peston (@Peston) 1684359979
\u201c@itvpeston @DamianGreen What a ridiculous train of thought. I mean back in the day doctors used to prescribe their patients smoking on the grounds of it being beneficial for their health, is he going to suggest we go back to that because views on it were more positive back then?\u201d— Peston (@Peston) 1684359979
\u201c@itvpeston @DamianGreen Who else remembers when swimming in shit was acceptable?\u201d— Peston (@Peston) 1684359979
\u201c@itvpeston @neil_runkel @DamianGreen Unbelievable. It wasn\u2019t acceptable then and it\u2019s not acceptable now.\u201d— Peston (@Peston) 1684359979
\u201c@itvpeston @DamianGreen Then we joined the EU and had to clean up our act. But now, finally, we've reclaimed our right to swim in sewage!! Sovereignty in action. Long live the right to swim in other people's excrement!\u201d— Peston (@Peston) 1684359979
\u201cThey really take us for idiots don\u2019t they? \ud83e\udd21 To attempt to pass the current chronic sewage problem as a generational issue which was more acceptable back then\u2026 \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\ud83d\ude29\u201d— Fred Sirieix (@Fred Sirieix) 1684397948
\u201cAnd look how you turned out .... SHITHEAD!\u201d— Julie Street \ud83d\udc1f \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Julie Street \ud83d\udc1f \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1684397864
\u201cNot for the first time, it's the satirists I feel sorry for.\u201d— James O'Brien (@James O'Brien) 1684396950
\u201cTories 2024: we actually enjoy swimming in human shit\u201d— James Felton (@James Felton) 1684396517
\u201cNow they\u2019re reminiscing about the good old days of swimming in shit.\u201d— Thomas Wynne Lewis \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f (@Thomas Wynne Lewis \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f) 1684395769
And things have been pretty rubbish for Green personally in recent months, as back in February he learned he had been rejected as the Conservatives’ candidate for the Weald of Kent constituency created off the back of boundary changes.
“I am now thinking about what to do next and how I can best continue to work for the people of Ashford and support the government,” he tweeted.
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