00:00Well we're here to celebrate the boat race which is a fantastic national event,
00:04worldwide event, watched by everyone including me as a child with my mum. So
00:08we're here to celebrate that and talk about that but of course we're also
00:11talking about the state of our waterways and it has been the fact that sewage
00:16impact has impacted the race in the past. We have had situations last year where
00:20rowers became ill. We've also had advice that they shouldn't be throwing the cocks
00:25into the water at the end of the race today because of the state of the sewage
00:29pollution that they see. So we know that this is a problem. We've taken action
00:33already with the Water Act putting companies into special measures, banning
00:37bonuses for polluting water bosses, introducing criminal liability including
00:42up to two years imprisonment. So we've taken action immediately. Also the Thames
00:46Tideway which is the super sewer. Now that's going to take 95% of the sewage
00:51that would have ended up into the River Thames. That's going to be diverting that
00:55but of course there's a lot more to do and we know we need to go further
00:59and faster.
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