Mick Hucknall has called out Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party over environmental policy which has seen a river declared “ecologically dead” as a result of dumping sewage into UK waters.
The River Lim in Dorset has been described as essentially dead by locals and conservationists after reports of a thick “layer of brown sludge” and tests by the likes of the River Trust found “shocking” levels of E.coli, with a freshwater ecologist confirming that it now contains “barely any” invertebrates.
As per The Times, the bottom of the food chain has effectively been cut off meaning that larger species will simply be unable to survive along the waterway, with yellow warning signs now put up warning the public to keep of out the water which is now full of human waste for the nearby SWW treatment centre.
With environmental activist group Greenpeace reacting to the grim news, adding that the levels of sewage flowing into River Lim have tripled in 2022 compared to the previous year, many online have been deeply troubled by the information — one of those being Mick Hucknall. He only had this to say:
Mick Hucknall not wasting a syllable in telling Rishi Sunak what he thinks of him and the ‘Tory Sewage Party‘
The Manchester-born musician and Simply Red frontman summed up his thoughts rather succinctly, holding Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives responsible for the deeply concerning increase in sewage dumping throughout Britain’s various seas, rivers, canals and other bodies of water.
In the instance of the Lim, sewage was dumped into the river for more than 2,200 hours last year alone and the levels at which waste, treated or not, is seeping into British waterways are getting increasingly worse year on year. It is estimated that since 2016, sewage has been discharged every two-and-a-half minutes, with 1,276 years’ worth of raw waste dumped into our waters over the last seven years. Awful.
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Quoting Environment Agency figures, research by the University of Manchester revealed that “sewage pollution incidents – many of which were legal – have increased 29-fold over five years and countless urban rivers are now effectively extensions of the sewerage network.” Moreover, there seems to be little interest in combatting pollution as water companies are simply making too much money from it.
Tories let colleagues earn £millions from duff PPE contracts, stopped folk from voting without ID and allowed the arrest of innocent people who police 'thought' might protest. But hey, water companies dump you raw sewage in our rivers and seas and pocket your bonuses. Happy days pic.twitter.com/YlyCsdy0jg
— Robert Bob…. What is this nightmare? (@MrRobertBob1) May 11, 2023
In the grand scheme of things, it is now said that only 14% of rivers in England have “good” ecological status and this figure is expected to fall to just 6% by 2027.
While Labour are still pushing for a Water Quality Bill to put an end to the rampant sewage dumping once and for all, Tories voted against it, with current Environment Secretary Therese Coffey calling the motion “pointless” and “ill-considered”, insisting that the part has a “credible plan” to tackle pollution.
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Nevertheless, the ‘Tory Sewage Scandal’ is not going ignored and many have been campaigning for proper accountability for years now. When Liz Truss was the minister in charge, she oversaw £235 million incuts to environmental funding and in 2021, levels rose to their worst since 2013. She went on to become Prime Minister…
The most concerning part is that this doesn’t just stop with the Lim and Dorset: given the excessive levels of sewage being dumped into rivers all around the UK, it won’t be long before more fall victim to a growing ecological crisis.
Featured Image — Simply Red (via Instagram)/Greenpeace UK/Wikimedia Commons
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Chester Zoo named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors
Emily Sergeant
Congratulations are in order, yet again, for Chester Zoo… as this time its been one of England’s most popular attractions.
Merely months after being named the UK’s best zoo for the second year running, thanks to receiving more than 11,000 ‘excellent’ reviews from TripAdvisor, Chester Zoo has now got itself another prestigious title, as a major VisitEngland (VE) report has ranked it the third most-visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England – and the most visited outside of London.
The national tourist board for England gathered information from a total of 1,373 attractions across the country, and ranked the UK’s biggest charity zoo as the third overall in terms of popularity, with a whopping 1.9 million visitors in 2024 alone.
The Tower of London took top spot with 2.9 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was second place with 2.3 million visitors.
When it comes to free attractions, on the other hand, it wad the British Museum that claimed the top spot with 6.5 million visitors, while the Natural History Museum (5.9 million visitors) took second place, and the Tate Modern (4.6 million visitors) got third.
So as you can see, the south and London in particular is a pretty dominating force in England’s tourism industry – which is why it’s even more impressive to see Chester Zoo ranked so highly.
The new VE title also comes after the zoo was recently given £4 million of lottery funding to help ‘transform’ the local environment and restore wildlife habitats across the Cheshire and wider North West region.
Not only that, but if course follows Chester Zoo’s unveiling of its new immersive experience named Heart of Africa, which is the the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK and is home to 57 iconic African species.
Chester Zoo has been named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors / Credit: Chester Zoo
“As a major international wildlife charity, everything we do is focused on supporting global conservation,” commented Chester Zoo’s Commercial Director, Dom Strange.
“Whether it’s caring for highly-threatened animals and plants, making scientific discoveries, influencing Government environmental policies, impacting the National Curriculum to better connect young people with nature, or our conservation efforts in around 20 countries, we’re fully committed to protecting endangered species for the future.
“But none of this would be possible without our visitors.
“Every person who comes to the zoo for a fun and inspiring day out is helping to fund our vital work, so we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us to rank so highly in VisitEngland’s latest report.”
Featured Image –
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Manchester Museum saves a ‘national treasure’ to ensure it stays in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum has made a stunning new addition to its natural history collections, and in the process has ensured a ‘national treasure’ stays in the UK.
Not long after claiming the coveted title of European Museum of the Year for 2025, Manchester Museum has done it again – this time working together with John Rylands Library to acquire Henry Dresser’s unique personal copy of his anthology A History of the Birds of Europe so that this ‘invaluable resource’ can remain in the UK for future generations.
The beautifully-illustrated collection of books provide an important historical record to help understand how and why bird populations have changed over time.
Dresser’s personal copy is heavily-annotated with personal notes and observations.
These books are deemed to be of ‘outstanding significance’, not only for scientific purposes but also for their aesthetic value, as they have also been illustrated by some of the leading wildlife artists of the day.
The volumes were recognised as a national treasure by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, which is supported by the Arts Council, and this meant that the Government placed a temporary export deferral on them to allow time for UK buyers to raise the funds to keep them in the country.
Brilliantly, the acquisition of these books reunites them with Dresser’s own bird specimens that are already cared for by Manchester Museum, including species such as the Slender-billed curlew, which is now believed to be extinct.
The now-extinct species’ presence in both Dresser’s beautifully-annotated volumes and the ornithological collections at Manchester Museum highlights the vital role that historical records play in tracking biodiversity loss over time to uncover the long-term impact of environmental change.
Manchester Museum has saved a ‘national treasure’ to ensure it stays in the UK / Credit: Manchester Museum
“Threats to the natural world and biodiversity have never been greater and while this anthology has historical value, it also speaks to the urgent issues of the present,” commented Esme Ward, who is the Director of Manchester Museum.
“These books are breathtakingly beautiful, and by bringing them together with natural history collections, we believe they will not only provide scientific benefit, but also capture the hearts of future ornithologists and conservationists.”
A History of the Birds of Europe will be officially unveiled at a private view on Friday 27 June, before being displayed to the public for the first time in Manchester Museum’s ‘Living Worlds’ gallery from Saturday 28 June 2025 right through until Sunday 25 January 2026.
Danny Jones -
12th May 2023 
