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The British political parties I The majority of voters whose manifesto calls for protecting Britain’s rivers believe that all of the policies in the campaign are strongly supported by the public.
At least 60% of voters support each of the five policies included in the manifesto. The manifesto has been backed by the Liberal Democrats and the Greens but has not yet been endorsed by either of the two major parties. Keir Starmer has praised the campaign, although he has stopped short of giving it his full backing.
The findings of this study are: I BMG Research published the findings this week, just days before the general election.
The most popular policy, which would see the UK government prosecute water companies that allow untreated sewage to be discharged into priority areas such as limestone creeks and swimming beaches, was supported by 85 percent of voters and opposed by just 3 percent.
81% support the idea of giving the regulator, the Water Board, the power to limit water operator bonuses and prosecute companies, which it currently cannot, while 4% are opposed.
Exactly three-quarters of voters said the Environment Agency should be given more funding to enforce existing laws on how to improve wildlife and plant diversity in rivers, with just 5 per cent opposed.
A similar share (78%) said they would support policies that give farmers grants, assistance and advice to understand how to protect water quality.
And even the most divisive policy – investing in installing 100 “clean bathing spots” in England’s rivers over the next five years – is supported by 60 percent of the public, and opposed by 9 percent.
BMG said: “It is important to bear in mind the costs of the policies in the Rivers Policy Manifesto, but the data suggests the next administration will have sufficient support to fund these policies.”
“People are more likely to support the government spending more on public services, even if it means raising taxes or borrowing more (38%), but more likely to support cutting taxes and reducing borrowing at the expense of public services (28%).”
Political parties have promised to take steps to keep the river clean, including cracking down on water companies that unnecessarily discharge wastewater.
Labour has previously said it would tighten rules on fines for companies that pollute our rivers and “impose special measures on water companies”.
The party says officials overseeing repeated misconduct will face criminal prosecution under the plan.
The Liberal Democrats promised to have “the most ambitious manifesto of any party on cleaning up our rivers and coastlines”.
The Conservative government has previously said its plans to tackle water pollution would also include introducing unlimited fines for companies.
Fines levied against water companies for violating sewerage rules would be reinvested in a new Water Restoration Fund aimed at improving water quality.
Governments have warned that long-term infrastructure upgrades are needed to completely end sewage flooding, because heavy rains force businesses to choose between discharging wastewater into rivers, oceans or lakes or risking their drains backing up.
A new poll shows that the Green Party is most trusted to keep our lakes and rivers clean, with 33% naming them as the front-runner on the issue. 20% say Labour is best at protecting our waters, while 10% choose the Conservatives.
Labour was the most trusted on every policy, including tax and pensions, despite being attacked by the Conservatives for not having a clear plan.
The Liberal Democrats and Reform Party are seen as having run the best campaigns so far, with the number of voters who think the Liberal Democrats’ campaign is going well increasing from 19 percent in the second week of the campaign to 28 percent. The Reform Party’s rating for a good campaign has risen from 21 percent to 32 percent.
In the second week, only 17% rated the Conservative campaign as going well, while 40% thought it was going poorly. This latter figure has now risen to 54%, with a 14% increase in voters who think the campaign went poorly and just 16% thinking it went well, a drop of 1%.
A further 7% increase in the number of people who say Labour’s election campaign has been successful, from 37% to 44%, while 19% say it has been poor.
The poll also found that approval of Rishi Sunak’s leadership has fallen during the election – from 21% satisfaction in May, when the election took place, to 18% this week.
Starmer’s approval rating remains stable at 33%, but is 2 percentage points lower than last week.
BMG Research conducted online interviews with a representative sample of 1,522 UK adults between 24th and 26th June 2024. BMG is a member of the British Opinion Research Council and adheres to its regulations.