In my last update I asked you to write to MPs, urging them to vote in favour of the Duke of Wellington's Amendment (Amendment 45) of the Environment Bill when it returned to the House of Commons for a second vote on the 27th October. However, the vote never took place - why?
In the wake of the first vote, the public backlash was so severe that many Conservative MPs were forced to publicly defend their actions. They cited an estimated cost of £660 billion to fix the UK sewage network. The figure was promptly debunked as absolute nonsense with the real cost estimated to be between £4-60 billion. They were trying to scare us.
The backlash continued and eventually the government reacted, announcing that they would be placing a new duty on water companies to improve. As a consequence, the Duke's vote would be delayed until Monday 8th November. This was viewed as a victory for campaigners but was it?
Over a week on from the announcement on this new duty, the government are yet to release its wording, making it very difficult for environmental groups to argue against it. We suspect that they will not reveal it until Monday, the day of the delayed vote. This is deliberate.
They've done this for three reasons. First, it seems inevitable that the new duty will be weak on water companies. Second, they delayed the vote to let the outcry die down as COP26 takes over. Third, the chosen date is the day before November recess, allowing them to vote it down again before disappearing. We cannot let this happen.
I'm calling on you today to do two things;
1) Write to your local MP and tell them to support the Duke of Wellington's amendment, not the government's new duty. Mention the reasons I have outlined above. Ask your friends and family to do the same. To contact your MP click here.
2) Follow the SOS Whitstable twitter account and please retweet us in the coming days so we can create as much awareness about this issue as possible.
Thank you so much for all your support. Fingers crossed we can finally get this amendment over the line on Monday.
Ed.