Will sewage in the Thames hurt the Tories? The view from Henley and Thame 

My father was a senior civil servant in MAFF (before it became DEFRA). It was during his stint in London that the Thames was finally declared a "clean river". I remember standing on London Bridge with him, looking over the parapet into the waters when he said "You know, there are now trout breeding in the river, and Salmon are now being seen upstream, they'll be breeding in the river soon. And they did. It took a concerted effort to get the river Thames from "The Great Stink" to that point, and over 120 years. It took only 14 years of the current Toriues to reverse the entire process, to the point where there are now parts of the river that are regularly considered "dead". I am so glad I don't have to live in the UK and see this process happening day after day.

'We need to be not too fearful of the pollution of the water' -- did the Tory candidate actually say that?

sewage in the Thames IS the Tories!

Did... the Tory candidate say that... the problem was people talking about the **** in the river?

The Greens candidate spoke so well.

I thought the purpose of sewage system was to keep human safe and the environment not to just dump it back into the environment so third world

Discussing the rabid dog in my living room is really undermining the status of my house.

what do we want tories out when do we want it 4th July.

The bubble people live in around Henley, or Marlow, is like another planet compared to Slough or Basingstoke, short drives away, the latter two which are falling to bits rapidly, closing down and although Thames sewage is a sign of a collapsing water works system, it is still a luxury concern, compared to the concerns in Slough and Basingstoke. The south east social divide, status and wealth, is almost unbelievable. I am sure people in Henley will be devastated if the Regatta is cancelled - but when was the last time they went down Slough high street with open eyes?

I absolutely hate the Conservatives I will never ever vote for them again for the rest of my entire life.

Extraordinary comment from the Tory candidate - people shouldn't be too fearful of the pollution in the river!!!

I started to kayak in Leamington until the day I found out about the soil pipe 150 years from the club. As a disabled person it was a given I'd fall out, I couldn't put myself through it. It's a disgrace.

These people clearly know that things need to change, eg cleaning up the Thames, but guarantee that they’ll not want to pay the tax for it. People need to understand, if we want public services, infrastructure, regulation ect to work and be effective we’ve got to pay the tax. Tax shouldn’t be ideological!

Swimming in raw sewage is nothing to worry about 😂😂😂

Oh how awful! I've just been telling chlamydia and anesthesia that i saw a large richard the third floating past me near Richmond! It put me off my foccacia!

Simple really vote Tory, get poo. Simple as A,B,C - Anyone But Conservative

I’m fairly sure I have a bad stomach from swimming in the river in Oxfordshire

I’m watching this as I’m on 🚽😖

Who have they voted for in the past? The Tory candidate reminds me of the mayor in Jaws. 😅

Well said, that the condition of the Thames is analogous to the crumbling of the UK.

Great report.

Roads and Potholes; polluted rivers; no different from us here in India!!!

Henley-in-Sewage

Green party candidate is hot

After the Tories remained in power whilst the consequences of Brexit were still being felt, I lost hope about anything hurting them until the current elections. That said if sewage in the Thames didn't hurt the Tories already, I imagine an actual Tory candidate telling people not to just deal with it did.

Not a political question??! How out of touch can you be? Privatisation of the water companies was and remains Tory party policy. The uselessness of Thames Water - what has the government done to improve anything?

An observation from the other side of the world 🇦🇺 - from 1:38 to 2:04 there is a clear and articulate capture of all the essential services that have ‘gone down the tube’ after 14 years of Tory mismanagement. Kudos to the Greens candidate, Jo Robb. I thought that the Mayor of Henley was surprisingly outspoken too in apportioning responsibility for the pollution of England’s much loved, premier river.

In Europe water companies are provate but they have rules.

quintessential Liberal Democrat target seat

With the decline of newspapers in the States, especially The Washington Post, The Guardian becomes more important.

I wouldn't swim in our rivers ' i 'l come out glowing in the dark ' or grow another arm or foot 🤢☠️

I learned to swim there.

It’s amazing to see these ladies enjoying a swim in pooh!…..

It doesn't matter if the Tory candidate geuinely loves the river or not. When she gets to Westminster she will have to toe the Party line, or lose the whip. What matters is Tory party POLICY, and we can all see what that is - fill the pockets of the captains of industry, help the rich get richer, and keep power at all costs so that this never changes.

“That’s not a political issue” gaslighting at its finest.

Tories and water company executives should be forced to swim in the rivers they've polluted... perhaps shareholders too.

The Toffs of London.

At least the EU can’t be blamed for it…

What a sauce

Before the 2016 Referendum I`d never ceased to vote in any General Election. Since June of 2016 I`ve never voted in any GE and never will again. We are now a captive audience, the vast majority of us hardly free to escape this rapidly sinking bucket of a country. Many people say to me that if I don`t vote then I have no cause to complain. Listen : I`m a taxpayer. Whom should I vote for when all the candidates before me are equally useless ? Or mutually evil ? In want of a mandate being equally `criminal ?`

Water quality has been an issue for over 20yrs remember David Wallaim charity swim, only now brought up to bash tories with, wonder if immigration is a factor don't hear that, just another part of infrastructure put under pressure.

1:36 5:38

Not surprised - the Green Party is the best option to stop pollution in our rivers.

Henley will never ever go red, it's too xenophobic and nimby

They act like this is a new phenomenon. The poor have dealt with all this for donkeys years.

You can tell she is a tory. Just lies

Once sewage in the river has made you ill, why would you go swimming in it again? One woman said it had made her ill FOUR TIMES! I understand that Henley is an iconic place for boating, but it would be like Ulster Unionists walking across a motorway because it had been constructed on their traditional Orange marching route.

Brexit! 1:29

You can get hepatitis swimming in the UK.

Sewage in the tahmessewage in the thames has the potential of huting a lot of people never mind the torys, and cannot be healthy for the definetly not rocket science, i take it thise will be another lessins ti be learned situation, but by that time it may be to late for sime people...

A swan covered in poo? Shame

Anyone who knows anything about this problem knows that it's a problem with rainwater using the same drainage system as sewage water. When there is prolonged periods of excessive rainwater, the sewage system cannot handle the amount of water it has to process, so it has to dump the water into the river system. What we need to do is build more rainwater storage facilities, seperate rainwater from sewage water, build more reservoirs, build more permeable and slow release SUDs systems and plant more trees in urban areas. That is going to cost billions and where is the money going to come from? Taxpayers don't have that sort of money, we can't borrow any more money. It's not a failure of the last 14 years, it's a failure of the last 40 years. Everything we have done in the last 40 years has been a failure and there is only one group of people to blame. No not the Tories, Boomers! Boomers have destroyed this country and they knew they were doing it but they didn't care because they would be dead before the problem emerged. Well guess what Boomers, you aint dead yet, so we should cut all state pension, seize all their assets and put them to work repair the mess they made of this country.

Comment for engagement!

Those ladies are swimming in water they know has sewage in it... why? Spend that time mobilizing around someone who will fix the sewage instead of just shortening your life by knowingly swimming in something that polluted.

When I was at school in the fifties ,School had use of rowing facilities by Kew Bridge,there was sewage in the water then,so hardly new news

Keep voting Tory

40yrs of neo-con policies and not one step forward .

If there are sanitary items in there...then women are the culprits..

Will sewage in the Thames hurt the tories? I doubt it. They all seem to have their own private swimming pools. 😂

If they drink it, yes.

The Water is turning the Frogs 🐸 Gay 🌈🏳️‍🌈

5:16 Why is he wearing that silly rap star Mr. T. necklace?

Me: “oh, that’s gross, terrible state of…. AAAAARGHHH, THEY ARE STILL SWIMMING IN THE RIVER WHEN THEY KNOW IT’S GOT POO IN IT!!!! NOOOOOOOOO, WHHHYYYYY, NOOOOOOO!” 🤢

They see al that shit and they are still swimming in that shit

If they vote Tory again here there is zero hope…..,this election is in effect an IQ test…..let’s hope they pass 🙄

Ofc the Green Party activists are delightful, wholesome & charming women

Different species of human live there.

That's a pretty extraordinary response by the Conservative candidate - basically telling people that their concerns are not worthy of her, and that actually they are the ones causing damage to the river by daring to complain about swimming in shit

These people clearly know that things need to change, eg cleaning up the Thames, but guarantee that they’ll not want to pay the tax for it. People need to understand, if we want public services, infrastructure, regulation ect to work and be effective we’ve got to pay the tax. Tax shouldn’t be ideological!

EU Red Tape ❌ Great British Tapeworms ✅

Even the toffs hate the tories now

"If you stay very still and don't show any fear, the sewage can't hurt you." With this level of mendacity/idiocy, Tory MP is the only career option left.

Food banks on Henley? Wow, well done Tories.

Undecided or they hate Tories? The Tories just lie and lie

Including the "Shit-- sorry, slur-- excrement..." was brilliant

Ah! The wonders of privatisation. ;-(

Literally can’t believe the Tory candidate actually said that.

Food poverty…. Tory answers……just eat less

Of course not, they wallow in sh*t very day.

Jo Robb for PM. It's a shame the best candidates are in selfless parties, it's a conundrum that selfish Tory policy has made impossible to overcome

"Don't worry about that floating turd!" Please.

Education, education, education! The Tory sense of hygiene is victorian or worse!

Yes, don't worry about the pollution. The main thing is Chinese investors need a return on their money and British households need to fund it through massive water bill increases. Yay Tories!

I thought the nitrogen from sewage killed off fish and other aquatic life? It promotes the spread of weed and algae as well which gradually affects the oxygen levels in the water. I don't understand why water isn't a political issue. It's a basic requirement of all life on Earth isn't it?

The farrow and ball paint shop in the opening shot is such a giveaway to the type of area lol!

At 0:25 that's a 1962 MGA 1600 Special (disc front brakes but not a twin cam).

That Australian woman is so articulate and a beautiful person in every way - inside and out.

They’re so articulate about everything; it’s so satisfying

Another Brexit benefit. No need to follow clean water rules.

I hope the people vote tactically. It's a shame for parties like the Greens but the Tories must be removed. Hopefully, there will be PR in the future giving smaller parties a vote.

When the Tory party shits in its own back yard 🤔Priceless 😂

Back in the late 60s we often went to Henley camping and would spend all day at and in the river with no affects at all.

very tory to say "we need to not be fearful of pollution"

Great reporting.

That's fine,out up the bills and carry on paying share holders dividends.Buying shares is like gambling,So if you take that risk you should also be prepared to lose sometime

Contrary to what your local Conservative Party MP might tell you, the EU directive regulating the protection of inland surface waters, coastal waters and groundwater more or less ceased to apply after Brexit came into effect.

I left the UK in 2001, the place was pumping, people seemed to have money in their pocket and everyone worked hard and enjoyed themselves at the weekend, it is a travesty what the Tories did to the UK, Osborne and Cameron took a sledgehammer to the progress that had been made since Thatcher through to Brown

Lib dems up 5 in last poll

Be very fearful of the pollution in that water….clean it up is the point.

And we left the EU for this shit?!!!