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.
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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A local Manchester run club is holding two special running routes to see the total eclipse
Danny Jones
With the highly anticipated total eclipse fast approaching, people not just here in Greater Manchester but all over the UK, Europe and the rest of the world are gearing up to try and watch it – but this native running club are doing it a bit differently.
Eclipses occur once every 12-18 months, but this is set to be the biggest since 1999.
The moon is set to cover approximately 96-98% of the sun this coming Wednesday, 12 August, 2026, and rather than try to watch it from a window at home or drive to somewhere with supposedly ‘the best view’, local sports club Manchester Road Runners are turning it into their latest one-off event.
Sharing details online, the free-to-join local organisation, which boasts thousands of members on Facebook and various other platforms, will be timing things to make sure they catch the phenomenon.
Writing in the accompanying caption, the Road Runners say: “We’ve pulled some strings and have a very special event taking place on August 12th, a solar eclipse! Come run with us under a darkened sun next Wednesday from The Wharf at 18:30, with peak moon coverage expected at around 19:10.”
Better still, they’re also teaming up with their trail running spin-off club for an even more scenic twist on the evening excursion.
“If you prefer to experience your solar phenomena under the wide open skies”, they go on to write, “our friends over at Trail Division will be holding a hike/run off road, meet at Piccadilly Station at 18:00 to get shady in the great outdoors.”
Fortunately, they have issued an important disclaimer, going on to remind runners that “while beautiful and majestic, the sun should NEVER be directly looked at in the face unprotected”, signing off by adding, “Respect the sun, respect your peepers, stay ocularly safe out there.”
If you’ve never come across MRR before, they’re probably the biggest run club in the entire Greater Manchester region and their social-first jogs, intervals, track sessions and more revolve around meeting back up with your mates for a wholesome pint and a chat.
For many, it’s the biggest and the best in the city.
As for the eclipse run, it’s set to be a very magical variation on their usual Wednesday evening meets.
Quite rightly, they also point out in the post that you can actually buy certain glasses to view eclipses on these rare occasions, with search traffic often ramping up in and around these events.
Meanwhile, the Trail Division branch is yet to confirm the route for their run/hike, but it will most likely remain in the nearby North West vicinity; keep your eyes peeled on their social media pages (linked above) for more information and other upcoming trail events.
Speaking of trail runs, there’s a pretty beautiful albeit challenging one coming up next month…
Stunning vistas, walkers welcome, and multiple distances available.🏃♂️🥾
And the best part? It's less than 90 minutes away from Manchester. 🏞️
Oasis promoters drop biggest Knebworth hint yet after securing license around key date
Danny Jones
Not that we’re the type to get carried away, but we’ll confess that our curiosity, interest and general levels of anticipation have been piqued, as Oasis’ main promoters have recently renewed the license to host events at the infamous Knebworth.
My word, is this it? Like the reunion, is it ACTUALLY going to happen?…
We’re sure the raw, uncontrollable excitement will come should it be fully confirmed, but for now, all we know is that our colleagues in music media, SJM Concerts, have renewed the land in and around Knebworth Park and House for live entertainment once again.
Moreover, the company have also done so on a rather fitting date decades on from the original and legendary outdoor gigs.
As can be found on the planning application section of the North Hertfordshire Council website – the county in which the storied Britpop gigs took place – a fresh license to hold new events.
If/when the announcement happens, the already granted permission will allow for a capacity of up to 125,000 and a curfew of 3am.
We know the original Knebworth shows were beyond iconic, but let’s say this would be nailed on to be nothing short of absolutely box office.
Besides having also helped promote Oasis’ colossal Live ’25 reunion tour last summer, it’s also worth noting that they secured said license just over a week before the 30th anniversary of the pair of nights back in 1996: 10-11 August, to be specific.
The licence is said to have come into effect this past Saturday (1 Aug) and is believed to be indefinite.
What added even more fuel to the fire of these well-established rumours over the past year was when Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage told the House of Lords the band would be playing FIVE whole nights at Knebworth in the future, before later clarifying that she was speaking in “hypothetical terms.”
All that being said, it’s fair to say we’ll be keeping a very keen eye on socials over the next few days, in particular, just in case.
The Manc has reached out to SJM for an official comment (surprise, surprise), but we are yet to receive a response regarding the matter.
Your silence speaks volumes, just saying.
This coming Monday, 10 August 2026, will mark the official 30th anniversary of Oasis at Knebworth 1996, and with the likes of ‘Wonderwall’ seeing a chart resurgence as the go-to England anthem at this year’s World Cup, we’re choosing to be optimistic. What about you?
Danny Jones -
12th May 2023 
