Andrew Western, the MP for Stretford and Urmston, recently attended the launch of The Women’s Institute’s (WI’s) Clean Rivers campaign. He attended the event, in parliament, after a local member of the WI wrote to him, asking him to go along.

Clean Rivers is the latest campaign from the WI. It aiming to tackle river pollution and to promote the designation of more bathing waters. During the event, representatives outlined the key issue, along with potential solutions. The group also wants to draw the public’s attention to the importance of clean rivers for people, and wildlife, within their local communities.

Andrew Western said: “In a week where the quality of our rivers and waterways was again in the news, I was pleased to pop into the WI’s Week of Rivers event. This is such an important issue and I’m grateful to our local WI who have been raising awareness on this issue.

“It was good to see Longford Ward councillor Sarah Haughey at the event. Her ward is bordered by the River Mersey to the south.”

Labour has a plan to fix this by bringing in a legally binding target to cut sewage discharge by 90%, by introducing mandatory sewage outlet monitoring and by issuing automatic fines for sewage discharges.