The Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey meets Burnley Labour candidate to talk about water pollution in Lancashire

Burnley Labour and Co-operative Parliamentary candidate, Coun. Oliver Ryan, was able to discuss pollution in Lancashire's rivers and our west coast seafronts with Feargal Sharkey at last month's Labour conference.

Mr Sharkey, former singer with The Undertones, was guest speaker at the event in Birmingham. Sharkey, former head of UK Music, is a lifelong fly fisherman and has campaigned against the pollution of British rivers (particularly chalk streams) and the regulations of the water industry which impact British water resources.

Speaking from the rostrum, he said: “As a direct result of the water industry’s profiteering, there’s not a single river in England that achieves good overall environmental health – every single river is polluted and one of the largest sources of that pollution? The water industry.”

Labour’s shadow environment secretary, Jim McMahon outlined how the party would “clean-up” the water system after having been introduced on stage by the former singer, turned environment campaigner.

Oliver welcomed the pledge to introduce a legally binding target to end 90% of sewage discharges by 2030 and stronger sanctions and fines for bosses and companies who fail to do so.

“With Labour there will be change with mandatory monitors on all sewage outlets and automatic fines for every sewage discharge.

“Our rivers are vital for our health, ecosystems and economy. Labour’s clean-up campaign and greener mission can’t come soon enough. After the Tory deregulation free-for-all that's led to record amounts of sewage in our rivers."