In this typically Anglocentric BBC report today, England is only mentioned once so you might be excused for thinking that the 400 000 discharges of raw sewage into rivers, due to heavy rain, included Scotland.
It doesn’t.
On the 3rd of August 2021, BBC Scotland, informed us:
The number of recorded sewage spills in Scotland’s rivers and seas has increased by 40% over the last five years, new figures show. The figures the utility firm does have show that last year there were a total of 12,725 “spill events” – up 40% on 2016.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58040852
Note that grudging ‘the figures the utility firm does have?’ Anyone think the privatised English companies will be gathering more accurate data?
So, all things being equal, with ten times the population, you might expect England to have around 130 000 discharges but it had 400 000, more than 3 times as many.
Even more dramatic are the length of the spills in terms of hours. In Scotland in 2020, the spills went on for just over 2 500 hours while in England, they went on for 3 million hours, more than 1 000 times as long, pro rata. The English data do not include volume.
Not good in Scotland, I know, but as always, perspective in reporting?
Talking-up Scotland 
Thanks for providing the perspective!
I got taken in by the inference, by omission, that Scotland’s sewage situation was orders of magnitude worse.
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“Not good in Scotland, I know, but as always, perspective in reporting?”
All of it is relative John, but for further perspective, the duration of spill is crucial in England where rivers are long with slack gradients.
The longest river in Scotland is the Tay at 188km long with varying gradients and flows, tidal from Perth hence flooding issues. A 30 minute spill of screened but otherwise untreated sewage from Pitlochry will hit the Tay Estuary in a little less than an hour in spate, from Perth less than 5 minutes, and disperse, and unlike BBC Scotland’s continuous propaganda rain, reality has sunny breaks.
A 30 minute discharge from Hereford on the Wye in England at 250km long, can take anything up to 24 hours before it reaches the sea, a plug of pollution passing slowly down the river wiping out all in it’s path, but the river will recover, if it is only a plug.
But it isn’t, which is what George Monbiots exposee of the Wye fiasco exposed and stirred up a hornet’s nest across all England.
The problems on the Wye are a 24/7 affair having lasted many months, hence all the public agitation in England, it not just about the Wye.
London’s response with COP26 incoming was blame the Scots, look at the Ferret, ehm look and the Herald, ehm, look at anybody but us, is that a squirrel, is that Gove dad dancing again wearing only a pink tutu and stiletto heels ?
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The Privatised Utilities song (Ingerlund).
“The ballad of easy money”.
“The merde she flows, down to the sea,
And where that merde, she flows, I dont want to be.
Flow, pish, flow.
Let the shite wash down, the open road,
To some other town.
The water companies wanted it.
to be free.
If they dont treat the shit,
Then, thats how it will be.
Flow, pish, flow………………………………………………….!”
With apologies to Bob Dylan.
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If it wasn’t for Global Warming I’d by a T shirt with the following emblazoned on it’s front
“England a country to rush through on your way to somewhere nice”
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