Nearly 50 years ago, Britain was dubbed the ‘dirty man of Europe’ because of our vile rivers and beaches, foul air and weak nature protection laws.
Shamed into taking action by the courts over the ensuing decades, we were forced to come into line with European rules – dragged kicking and screaming into a cleaner, greener age.
In many ways, the UK is a healthier place to live than it was in 1980.

It is a fact that when it rains heavily, our outdated systems are unable to cope. Water companies have become accustomed to dumping toxic waste into rivers and waterways.
Our air quality is better, we recycle more, are more conscious of the environment, and have taken the lead in reducing carbon emissions.
And yet, just as government prepares to host the world’s most important environmental meeting in years, water pollution is once again rearing its rancid head.
Last week, MPs rejected an amendment to Environment Bill that would have stopped water companies from dumping huge amounts of untreated waste directly into our rivers and oceans.
It was a decision that sparked outrage which was further inflamed when film footage from Budds farm, Southern Water’s largest sewage treatment plant in Hampshire, emerged yesterday showing a deluge of rank, untreated sewage pouring into neighbouring Langstone Harbour.
Most of the water companies’ discharges are caused by flooding and storms that overwhelm their sewerage systems.
And in an attempt to resolve the situation, the Government – which had initially appeared to side with the water companies – was last night forced into a climbdown, and introduced a new amendment for MPs to vote on.
This amendment, says the Department of Environment, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, will ‘ensure water companies secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows’.
Many still believe that the amendment is not sufficient.
Raw sewage should only be discharged as a last resort.

It is now that Britain is once again surrounded by some of the most polluted beaches and rivers in Europe.
However, when it rains heavily, our outdated systems are unable to cope. Water companies have become accustomed to dumping disgusting waste in rivers and waterways.
Shockingly, there were more than 400,000 water pollution incidents last year with firms pumping raw sewage into England’s waters for a staggering three million hours in total.
The inevitable result is that Britain is again saddled with some the dirtiest beaches and rivers in Europe.
Water firms and other polluters fear that they will have to clean up their act. They claim it would cost hundreds to billions of pounds to repair our Victorian sewerage systems.
They say that bills would have risen steeply to pay for repairs, at a moment when the cost of living has soared.
The Government and MPs who voted in opposition to the amendment were concerned about how unpopular it would be among voters. The filthy stream cannot continue.
And the water firms’ argument for not taking more action is rich coming from fabulously wealthy private companies which have – for decades – enjoyed monopolies and, since they were privatised three decades ago, have hugely increased our bills to make billions for their shareholders and executives.
The problem is that current laws have little or no deterrent effect.
Southern Water – which regularly makes more than £200million profit a year and pays large bonuses to executives – was fined £90million in July for repeatedly pumping raw sewage around much of the South East coast and the Isle of Wight.
Canterbury Crown Court – which found Southern Water guilty of 51 charges of releasing raw sewage – said it was the ‘worst case brought by the Environment Agency in its history’.

2020: Sewage on Jubliee river. There were more than 400,000 water pollution incidents last year with firms pumping raw sewage into England’s waters for a staggering three million hours in total
But perhaps most shockingly, the prosecution explained it had been done ‘deliberately’, because it is cheaper for water companies to cynically pay the fines rather than to properly treat the sewage before releasing it.
These behaviors have serious health consequences.
Polluted water was a major threat to health in the 19th Century. This was after massive public investment.
The UK went on to develop the world’s cleanest urban drinking water supply, but it is no exaggeration to say we are now in real danger of experiencing more water-borne diseases as pollutants increasingly leak into our waterways and contaminate crops because flooding of farmland is so common.
Record numbers of people are going to the seaside and enjoying the new boom in wild swimming in our rivers and lakes – and nasty illnesses seem all too likely to follow.
This Environment Bill represents the best chance Britain has ever had to end mass pollution.
This amendment is a great start. If our politicians don’t act decisively, the stench of scandal will be with them for years to come.