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Petition launched for water referendum

@Angling Trust

by Freddie Sandford |

Published on7th May 2026 at 9.43am

Leading figures in the fight against pollution have called for a national referendum to give the public a say on Britain’s ailing water industry.

Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) have been a powerful voice in the fight for clean water, investigating pollution data and campaigning for change since 2017. Recently, they featured in the hugely popular Channel 4 series Dirty Business, which highlighted the sewage scandal on a national level.

Off the back of this coverage, WASP have launched a petition to hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership, in the belief that the proposed government regulatory reforms show that the water company owners’ interests are being favoured over those of the public.

“There are lots of petitions that call for action, but we want to ask for something clear and obvious,” said Vaughan Lewis, a lifelong angler who works with WASP.

“Through a binding referendum, we can all express a view on ownership of water in a simple, transparent and democratic way.”

At the time of writing, the petition had already been signed by over 85,000 people, and if it reaches 100,000 signatures, it’ll be considered for debate in Parliament. However, with it running until Oct 1 this year, WASP have bigger ambitions.

“We’re aiming to get a million signatures, so that it simply can’t be ignored,” Vaughan added.

“So, we’re asking for anglers to lift their eyes from their floats for just 10 seconds and sign the petition.

“The impact that sewage pollution has on angling is clear to see for anyone that fishes,” he added.

“Among a multitude of impacts on freshwater ecology, it’s almost certainly why barbel and grayling populations are declining, why year classes of fish are disappearing, and why weed growth is declining in many of our rivers.

“This petition represents the best opportunity for ordinary anglers like me to have a real say in protecting our rivers from the private equity sharks who are currently completely destroying them.”

To sign the petition, visit www.windrushwasp.org

The pollution has to stop!

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