Having created a watchdog for the environment, the government took its teeth out and muzzled it. Can public outrage rouse the Environment Agency to action?

One of the Guardian’s “Long Reads”.

Owl recommends that you go online to read the history of this disgraceful process of sidelining a once proud watchdog.

The sad story starts in 1991.

By Hettie O’Brien www.theguardian.com 

Extract from concluding paragraphs:

“Cleaning up rivers has become an electoral issue that commands near-universal support. Conservatives are now being forced to reckon with the consequences of cutting the agency’s funding and encouraging it to take a softer approach. This has resulted in the absurd spectacle of public arguments about who is to blame for the state of rivers conducted by the very people who are responsible for the state of rivers. The only thing on which ministers seem to agree is that it is all someone else’s fault. Yet despite all the talk of pollution, neither Labour nor the Conservatives have pledged to restore the money cut from the agency’s budget since 2010.”