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Dirty Business S01E03 (2026) [Full Movie] [Trending]Full EP - Full
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00:04I'm not sure if I'm going to go in.
00:06Really?
00:07Yeah.
00:08You'll be fine.
00:09Be cold.
00:10You're drowning.
00:14Or maybe you try it for a bit.
00:15I'll go first.
00:18Looking good.
00:19Looking rough.
00:21Scaredy cat.
00:23I'm not sure.
00:24Surprise, you?
00:49No prints.
00:53Nothing taken or disturbed?
00:57No.
00:58Unfortunately, the blood sample wasn't big enough for the lab to get a full DNA read.
01:05It's disappointing.
01:08Well, I really thought there was enough for a full sample.
01:12Apparently not.
01:14What about the glove mark?
01:15Not enough resolution for them to do anything with.
01:18You know, I took photos of the house right after the break-in.
01:23And nothing was touched?
01:25No.
01:26Or they put everything back in its place, which is what you would do if you were installing a listening
01:31device.
01:31I've applied for warrants to do exactly that.
01:34You're a copper?
01:34Serious Crime Squad.
01:36Covert Surveillance Unit.
01:37Counter-corruption.
01:38I'm innocent.
01:41Well, I mean, as you know, we've done a couple of sweeps.
01:49Nothing.
01:50No, me neither.
01:53So, there's not much more we can do.
01:57Okay.
02:02Oh, my God.
02:13No.
02:14Oh, my God.
02:15Oh, my God.
02:22I don't know.
02:59You've worked in surveillance, haven't you, for years,
03:01so you're telling me you can't actually see if they've got a new computer or not?
03:06No.
03:08I've done what I can to check, but you just can't tell now.
03:12You see, there's this incognito spyware runs a keylogger in the background,
03:16which means they can record every key you press, every mouse click,
03:19they can see the emails you write, your messages, your passwords, etc., everything.
03:24But they build it so you don't know it's there.
03:26What did the police say?
03:29Well, an officer came out, he took a sample of the blood,
03:32there was some blood on the handle downstairs,
03:35and he thought he could see a disposable glove mark in it,
03:38which means that whoever did it wants to make sure they're untraceable.
03:42He did think they could find a DNA result, and then nothing, nothing happens.
03:48What do you think this is, sir?
03:49Anything they can find to discredit us.
03:52Something that would look good on the cover of the Daily Mail, for example.
03:56I mean, I can't think of anything that, you know, I mean, um...
03:59Well, you know what it is.
04:01What's that?
04:03It's the Free Jazz.
04:05If that gets out, we're fucked.
04:06Oh, fuck off.
04:08But who would want to discredit us, sir?
04:10I don't know.
04:11Could be a burglar who just got scared and legged it.
04:14Yeah, well, or he could have just seen...
04:17Jala's Hawaiian Cushions.
04:19Don't say that in front of Jala.
04:20I'm not going to do that, am I?
04:21I want to hang on to my balls.
04:24You know, the other day, when this happened,
04:26the first thing I did...
04:29was pick up the phone to you.
04:31Yeah, no, I did see it, yeah.
04:33You probably saw it, I hung up.
04:36Just to...
04:36Yeah, I just think that what we need now is we need, um...
04:42We need a whistleblower, don't we?
04:43And we need someone from inside the agency.
04:47And high up.
04:48From the top, yeah.
04:51Eileen said that we must be making a difference.
04:53Did she?
04:54Yeah, she did.
04:55So, come on, let's, um...
04:57That's the point, isn't it?
04:58Yeah, we are.
04:58There's no point doing this unless we make a difference.
05:00No, let's keep going.
05:01Let's keep going and let's find that fucking whistleblower.
05:04Right.
05:05June 2019.
05:07Sir James Bevan Environment Agency.
05:10Dear Sir James, I'm writing to your office
05:12as I'm sure you will know where to direct the question.
05:14October 2019.
05:16Dear Sir James,
05:18I wrote to you to raise concerns about a serious integrity issue
05:21involving the agency.
05:23Dear Sir James,
05:2434 days have now passed since I sent you evidence.
05:27I've given up expecting a reply from you.
05:31Dear Ashley,
05:34I am in the receipt of your email to Sir James.
05:41Would you mind coming to our office?
05:43And would the 19th suit?
05:55Is Sir James not coming?
05:57I'm afraid not.
05:58No, Sir James wouldn't routinely attend meetings at this kind of level.
06:02I'd hoped he'd be here.
06:04He's time, Paul.
06:06He's aware of your work.
06:07Well, we're trying to find out
06:09what you're going to do about the illegal
06:12sewage overflow at Boughton.
06:14The combined storm overflow.
06:15The combined storm overflow at Burton
06:18has shown no detectable effects on the water quality.
06:21The water quality is stable and not deteriorating.
06:24I mean, our data shows very clearly
06:25that we have the best quality water
06:27since the Industrial Revolution.
06:31The water's turned brown.
06:32Yeah.
06:33It's turned so brown
06:35that when it joins the Thames at Newbridge
06:36it makes the Thames look like a Swiss mountain stream.
06:41The water is brown in places
06:43but that's a natural phenomenon.
06:45It's caused by a geological fault.
06:47A geological fault?
06:48Yeah.
06:49Sorry, a geological fault is millions of years old.
06:53We remember when the water was clear.
06:55No one remembers the good old days
06:57before the geological fault.
06:58In the last 12 months since we installed sensors
07:01there's been no evidence of pollution.
07:03Well, that's because you've installed the monitors
07:04upstream from the sewage pipes.
07:06Now, is that incompetence
07:08or an attempt to cover up a scandal?
07:10No, no.
07:10The agency would never position a monitor
07:12to achieve a particular reading.
07:14We are working extremely hard
07:15to transform the environment.
07:16We've improved and protected something like
07:18I think it's 15,000 kilometres of river.
07:22It's like, but you've had 92 complaints
07:25from the general public about sewage pollution.
07:28That's just the wind rush.
07:29I've actually got the breakdown here.
07:32Yeah, yeah.
07:35In 36 of those cases there was no offence
07:39and in 39 there was insufficient evidence
07:44and in 6 we were unable to identify the offender.
07:48Oh, what do you mean you couldn't identify the offenders?
07:51Why can't you identify the offenders?
07:52There's seven sewage works along the wind rush
07:54that are all run by Thames Water.
07:56I mean, you say you've got insufficient evidence
07:58but we keep giving you the evidence.
08:00All we ever do is give you the evidence
08:02and all we get back is it's under investigation
08:04and then nothing, nothing, nothing ever happens.
08:09In exceptional circumstances, for example,
08:11after heavy rain,
08:13the sewage systems are allowed to overflow.
08:15No, no, no.
08:17You see, that's not the law.
08:18The law is that in all normal climatic conditions,
08:21including heavy rainfall,
08:24the water companies have to treat the sewage.
08:25They have to make it safe
08:26before they put it back into the river.
08:29The law is a grey area.
08:30No, no, it's not a grey area with respect.
08:33It's the law.
08:33Sorry, can I?
08:35Sorry.
08:37Thames is their own data.
08:40It shows they stopped treating sewage
08:43at Northridge for more than three months.
08:46Now, they told us that their sensors had broken down
08:50but we think they're lying.
08:54They're lying.
08:55So why would they do that?
08:58Why would they lie to you?
09:12Doors are closed here.
09:18We're potential regulators.
09:22Sorry?
09:25The regulation isn't real.
09:27The government wants us to look like a regulator
09:29but they won't let us do our job.
09:32Okay.
09:34When Cameron and Trust gutted the agency,
09:37we went from regulating the industry
09:38to doing its bidding.
09:41Do you think we could take your number?
09:43No, just keep going.
09:47This is going to be the first government
09:49in modern history
09:50that at the end of its parliamentary term
09:53has less regulation in place
09:54than there was at the beginning.
09:56We've now identified those 3,000 regulations
09:59that we're going to scrap.
10:00Let's reduce the amount
10:01and the burden of regulation
10:03strangled by red tape.
10:04Cut back the health and safety monster.
10:06Cut guidance by 80%
10:08and we reduce farm inspections
10:09by 34,000 every year.
10:12Regulations will...
10:13None of my ministers
10:13could introduce a regulation
10:15unless they abolished one
10:16at the same time.
10:18Massively reduce
10:18the number of rules,
10:19laws and regulations
10:21that frankly treat all of you
10:23by idiots.
10:27So, really,
10:28it's about stripping out
10:30as much unnecessary regulation
10:32as possible
10:33and taking responsibility
10:35for climate change
10:36and saying,
10:37what more can we do
10:39to get us to net zero?
10:41As you know,
10:42this is a passion project
10:43for Sir James
10:44who feels
10:45that we
10:46can bring our car usage down
10:48by 70%.
10:50Yeah.
10:53It's...
10:53Yeah.
10:53So,
10:54from next month,
10:55we're going to be taking
10:56the bold decision
10:58to cut back decisively
10:59on our car leases.
11:04Yeah.
11:05Come on.
11:06Sorry.
11:06Just like to clarify
11:08what you're going to get
11:10rid of our cars.
11:12So,
11:12it's about reducing
11:14the agency's carbon footprint.
11:16Just getting that...
11:17Yeah.
11:18Go ahead, Hannah.
11:19The cars that we
11:21drive to the inspections in.
11:23Right.
11:24Yeah.
11:24So,
11:24self-monitoring
11:26and a more desk-based
11:28regulation
11:28is really...
11:29It's really helping us
11:30move the needle
11:31on climate change.
11:35But...
11:36The remaining inspections...
11:39Well,
11:39yeah.
11:40How do we get to those
11:42without a car?
11:43Yeah.
11:45It's a great question.
11:46It's a really great question.
11:48And we'll take that forward
11:49to the next discussion meeting.
11:51Thanks, Hannah.
11:53Yeah, lovely.
11:53Thanks, everyone.
11:54Not easy news to break,
11:55is it?
11:56Yeah, surprise.
11:57Debbie's got something to say.
11:58I know, I know, I know.
11:59But my car...
11:59Everyone's driving cars.
12:00We're the environment agency.
12:02Absolutely.
12:02What's wrong with the train?
12:03I'll keep mine, I think.
12:04So, yeah.
12:05Mmm, coffee.
12:06How do I get a coffee?
12:09Does anybody know
12:09what we're looking at?
12:12Anybody?
12:14Okay.
12:15Could you tell me
12:15what the reactants are?
12:17So,
12:18if you move your head
12:19even slightly,
12:19the vertical gets more intense?
12:21Yeah.
12:22And the attack's happening
12:23maybe twice a week?
12:24About that, yeah.
12:29The good news
12:30is that you don't have cancer.
12:32We actually think
12:33it's Meniere's.
12:34It's a disease
12:35of the inner ear.
12:36The main symptom
12:37is acute vertigo episodes,
12:40vomiting,
12:41tinnitus.
12:43It's a pretty neat fit
12:44with your presentation.
12:48They were dumping sewage
12:50in the water
12:52the last time
12:53before I got sick.
12:54Right.
12:55You know that from...
12:57The Suffers Against Sewage app.
12:59Okay.
13:01Might that be...
13:02The causes are unclear.
13:04It's post-viral.
13:05This often starts
13:06with an ear infection.
13:07You know,
13:07they're common in surfers.
13:08Yeah,
13:09every surfer I know.
13:13This is a chronic condition.
13:16I'm afraid
13:17there's no cure.
13:31It's so dangerous.
13:33It might be a problem
13:35It's so dangerous.
13:38It's so crazy.
13:39Should we leave the table away?
13:40There's no case.
13:43Just hold his back.
13:44Just to see his back.
14:08So, by ending on-site inspections into categories 3 and 4,
14:13no or low-impact pollution events,
14:16and doubling down on the more serious Category 1 and 2 incidents,
14:22we think we can turn ourselves into a more effective fighting unit.
14:26Yeah. So, from today, we are ending on-site inspections for Cats 3 and 4.
14:32Any questions?
14:34Well, yeah.
14:37A Category 3 incident can be 2 kilometres of sewage.
14:42Mm.
14:43We want you to not inspect, to not spend time on these incidents.
14:49Except that since the water companies have been self-reporting,
14:54they almost always only report Category 3s and 4s.
14:59So, they're not actually reporting serious incidents.
15:01And so, if the water companies are only reporting 3s and 4s,
15:05and we're no longer allowed to investigate...
15:08So, what exactly are we going to be doing?
15:11I've told the government, you get the regulation you pay for.
15:14We no longer have the money to go on inspecting low-grade pollution events.
15:19We need you to shut down these reports as unsubstantiated,
15:22or to silently pass them,
15:25and to not report them as pollution incidents.
15:27Yes. Is that clear?
15:33Yeah. Thank you. Thanks, everyone.
15:35You're on with your day?
15:36Yeah.
15:47We had to fuck.
15:49Fucking wankers.
15:50How are you going to get to fucking work?
15:52Fuck nice.
15:55Horseback.
16:03What time did he call you?
16:05I passed 10 last night.
16:08He said you couldn't miss it.
16:20Oh, my God. Look at him.
16:27Get some shots, and we'll call the agency on the way back.
16:35Come on.
16:43What time did he call you?
17:19What time did he call you?
17:21What time did he call you?
17:22What time did he call you?
17:24What time did he call you?
17:26What time did he call you?
17:26What time did he call you?
17:26What time did he call you?
17:28What time did he call you?
17:30What time did he call you?
17:30What time did he call you?
17:32What time did he call you?
17:38What time did he call you?
17:52Debbie, are you driving into work tomorrow?
17:55Oh yeah, obviously, how else would I get in?
17:56Well, can I borrow your car at lunchtime?
18:00What for?
18:02Someone keeps calling up and complaining about the same incident.
18:06It's near the bridge at Hawke Rise, so I'm going to go and take a look.
18:11Okay.
18:12A bit of freelance investigation.
18:14A bit of freelance, and also it needs to be off the books.
18:17And I need you to promise me not to tell Sophie.
18:21I can't tell Sophie.
18:22You can't tell Sophie?
18:23Obviously not. Why don't I tell Sophie anything?
18:53Hi.
18:54Hi, is that, um, is that Justine?
18:58Hi, Justine.
18:59Um, it's, it's Hannah from the Environment Agency.
19:04Listen, it's about the, um, the pollution event at Hawke Rise.
19:08Um, it came through the system at a duration of 1.34 hours, and, and I'm here now, and it's,
19:16it's still going.
19:19Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm, I'm here now, yeah.
19:22The CSO's still discharging untreated sewage.
19:26I mean, there's, there's a section of the river that is covered over with dried sewage.
19:31I mean, there's, there's dead fish.
19:32You can, you can see them from the footpath.
19:34I mean, you're going to get more complaints.
19:36You need to sort this.
19:42Can you prepare and cook a simple meal unaided?
19:47Yeah, but not when I'm having an attack.
19:51Then I can't do anything.
19:52I can't, I can't move.
19:54Can you eat and drink unaided?
19:56Yeah, but, again, not when I'm having an attack.
20:00Um, and I've been getting the attacks, well, every few days for the past six months.
20:05But if, if you're not having one of your attacks, can you eat and drink unaided?
20:09Yeah, but...
20:10Yes or no is fine.
20:12Yes.
20:15Can you dress and undress unaided?
20:20It's the same answer.
20:22Moving on to the mobility section of this assessment.
20:25Can you plan and follow a journey unaided?
20:30Yeah, but not when I'm having an attack.
20:33Standard move for 200 metres.
20:37Not when I'm having an attack.
20:39Well, you know, can you move around, walk for 200 metres?
20:42Of course I can, but not when I'm having an attack.
20:44Okay.
20:45Thank you, Mr Santa.
20:46Your total score for the daily living part of the assessment is zero points.
20:51Your total score for the mobility section is zero points.
20:55When you're not having an attack, you're able to do all the tasks I asked you about.
20:58That's the thing with my condition is that sometimes I can do these things and other times I can't.
21:04And when I can't, I can't, I can't do anything.
21:06I can't award you a personal independence payment.
21:08I don't know what to do.
21:09If you need further guidance about how to appeal, you can use the web chat to get some help.
21:15If you cannot access the web chat, you can contact the benefits appeal helpline on 0300...
21:22I can't see you, please.
21:31Hannah.
21:32Oh, shit.
21:32Sorry.
21:32Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.
21:35Do you have a second?
21:36Can I have a word?
21:36Of course.
21:37Yeah?
21:38Okay.
21:38So I've just, I just got off the phone to Justine Wright-Phillips at the water company.
21:42Yeah?
21:43Yeah, she said, she said you called her.
21:45Yeah.
21:45Yeah, I, yeah, I did.
21:48Okay, she said you called her from the site.
21:51Well, I saw that it had been logged on the system for the fifth time and people kept calling up
21:55complaining and nobody was doing anything about it, so I...
21:58But we don't have the revenue to be investigating Category 3.
22:03It's not for Category 3, Sophie.
22:06The river is dried over with excrement.
22:08You can see it from...
22:09Yeah, so that's what I wanted to talk to you about.
22:11So Justine says that the dispersal rate in that area is really high.
22:16Is it?
22:17Yeah, she says there's like a strong current and a high dispersal rate of the untreated surge.
22:20The overflow pipe has been discharging for over 36 hours and it is still going.
22:25All right, that's...
22:25That is the water company's responsibility to report to us.
22:29You know this.
22:32Okay?
22:32And Justine says that actually really, because of the high dispersal rate, that it should come down to a Category
22:394.
22:41Be a Category 4?
22:43Yes.
22:43Right.
22:43Mm-hmm.
22:46So, no impact on the environment, no action needed?
22:50Yes.
22:52Mm-hmm.
22:56Oh, you want me to change it on the system?
22:57Would you?
22:58Could you?
22:59Yeah?
23:00Okay, thanks so much.
23:02That's great.
23:03Lovely.
23:08Wow.
23:12So, you see how well we're doing?
23:14Yeah, of course.
23:14Are you joking?
23:16I'm not joking.
23:17You know SROIC?
23:19No, what's that?
23:21Strategic Review of Incident Charges, yeah?
23:23It's like what we charge the clients for permits and that.
23:26So, we don't have clients, Cheryl.
23:28We're an environment agency.
23:29Okay, yes, sorry.
23:30Yes, we don't have clients.
23:32But Sir James has put the prices up, yeah?
23:35And I'm talking like up, up.
23:37Big time.
23:39Well, he's charging the water companies more.
23:41Yep.
23:42Well, surely they've gone down to the government, like, lobbying them, going mad, jegging.
23:46The charges are taken down.
23:48No.
23:48Not a peep.
23:49Not a peep.
23:51Sorry, they're just paying it.
23:53We've basically had such a high revenue spike, yeah?
23:57That we are on our way to becoming a client-funded regulator.
24:04Sorry, hold on one minute.
24:05This is going a bit...
24:06So, you're saying that the water companies are funding the environment agency.
24:12That's what you're...
24:14You see the issues there.
24:16You can't be serious.
24:17A client-funded regulator.
24:22Amazing, isn't it?
24:22How can that even be a thing?
24:25It's a thing.
24:26Well, hold on, because literally, the other day, Sir James said that you get the regulation
24:31that you pay for.
24:32Yeah.
24:32That we haven't got the money to do the investigations that we used to do.
24:37Nobody's paying for them.
24:38Okay.
24:38That's your area, isn't it?
24:40I mean, all I know is that we have got more cash than we've ever had before.
24:47Just making conversation.
24:51I've got the job.
24:53Hostman?
24:54Mm-hmm.
24:54No?
24:54Yeah.
24:55Did you?
24:55Yeah.
24:56Oh, my God.
24:57Yeah, really good timing.
25:00Uh-huh.
25:01Because I did two pregnancy tests this morning.
25:06What?
25:06And, yeah, I'm pregnant.
25:08What?
25:09Yeah.
25:10Pregnant.
25:10No?
25:11Yeah.
25:12Yeah.
25:13I sort of just had a funny feeling and then, yeah, did one test, two lines, and then I did
25:19another test and it said two lines for someone.
25:21I was like, fuck.
25:32I'm Susan Davey.
25:35I'm Susan Davey.
25:35I am the CEO of Southwest Water.
25:37Yeah, basically the wet weather events put a strain on our Victorian networks.
25:42Because of the Victorian sewage networks.
25:43And, unfortunately, we have a Victorian sewage system which we have inherited and that means
25:50things do go wrong.
25:51How do you say Victorian sewage network?
25:5312%.
25:5412?
25:5512%?
25:56What's 12%?
25:5712% of the sewage system is Victorian.
26:00What do they tell you?
26:02That the whole of the system was Victorian, so that meant that the investment would be
26:07so high that it'd be impossible to actually fix it all.
26:11Bollocks.
26:12Shall I tell you what stopped it?
26:14When privatisation came in, they just stopped spending.
26:17After the war, they kept upgrading, then after privatisation came in, they just stopped.
26:23Not just Thames, all of them.
26:266% new plant since privatisation.
26:296%?
26:306%.
26:31Is that all?
26:31You know what would be good?
26:32If we could maybe come and visit one of the works?
26:35I don't know about that.
26:36Well, I'd have to see, lads, honestly, because even just doing this, I feel a bit nervous.
26:42Fucking London Stadium.
26:43That's not a proper stadium.
26:44Fucking massive.
26:46Upton Park.
26:46Now that was a proper stadium, mate.
26:48London Stadium's too big.
26:49You need fucking binoculars.
26:50Do you know what I mean?
26:51Yeah.
26:52Sorry, Pete.
26:52Did you want to see an EDM?
26:54Oh, yes.
26:54Yes, that's right.
26:55Well remembered.
26:56So this is an event duration monitor.
26:59Now we fitted one of these on every sewage pipe in England.
27:03In 2012, by the coalition government, they ordered all the water companies to record
27:08how much time they spend dumping raw sewage.
27:12These little units, they measure how much poo goes into the river by hours.
27:16Management have been dragging their feet for eight years now.
27:19But we're finally getting most of it in now.
27:22And the agency, they publish the numbers?
27:24They have to, by law.
27:26They're not going to like it.
27:27But tough shit.
27:30EDMs.
27:32Yes.
27:35So, we're finalizing plans for the statutory publication of the EDM numbers.
27:44As you know, there have been some technical delays, but it looks like they're almost ready.
27:52And they're going to come as a bit of a shock.
27:57The data is going to show that the water companies discharged raw sewage 400,000 times in 2020.
28:06That's 1,100 times a day for a total of 3.1 million hours.
28:17That's a bit of a shocker.
28:18Can I just say that since operator self-monitoring, we've had to rely on the water companies to report back
28:26to us.
28:26I think that the key here is that this doesn't get framed as a failure of regulation.
28:32That would be quite wrong.
28:35And I think managing comms on this is going to be key.
28:38And we are working actively with the water companies to bear down on the problem.
28:46Yeah.
28:46But that's 1,100 criminal offences a day.
28:51Well, that's actually, that's debatable because that depends on the terms of the permit and the circumstances around each spill.
28:57Yeah.
28:58And we know the legislation permits discharging after heavy rainfall.
29:02No, no, it doesn't.
29:03Sorry, Hannah.
29:05The law doesn't say that you can just dump sewage after heavy rain.
29:09It says that in all normal, climatic and seasonal circumstances, the water companies have to treat the sewage.
29:16Not just dump it.
29:17It's not the agency's job to adjudicate legal matters.
29:20I mean, this is actually a matter for the courts.
29:23No, no, no.
29:24This is, this is our job.
29:25It's our job to enforce the law.
29:28Yeah.
29:29That's what we're here to do.
29:35Can you, um, you...
29:37Did you want to...?
29:37No, no, you, you finish off here, Sophie.
29:43So we've identified the problem and now we work on the problem.
29:45Yeah.
29:46Which is reframing and owning the narrative.
29:48Yeah, we, we, we don't want this to get misconstrued as some sort of failure on our part because it
29:52just isn't.
29:52Thanks, that's really nice.
29:53Yeah, thanks.
29:53Thanks so much.
29:54Thanks.
29:56Cool.
29:57Lovely.
29:57Thanks, Liz.
29:58Thanks so much.
29:59By the way, um...
30:02So...
30:03I've heard you're going to give evidence in Parliament.
30:05Yes.
30:06Yes.
30:06Amazing.
30:07I'm thinking of that.
30:09What does that mean, thinking about it?
30:11He's, er...
30:11He's nervous.
30:13Not that I'm not nervous.
30:14He's nervous.
30:15No, it's not that I'm nervous.
30:16And I want to do it.
30:17Yeah.
30:17It's just...
30:18It's difficult.
30:19Don't, don't worry about it.
30:20I'll do...
30:21Yeah.
30:21We're counting on you.
30:22We are really counting on you.
30:23And you can explain it in this scientific way.
30:25You're going to come across brilliantly.
30:26They're going to believe you, mate.
30:27Well, it...
30:29It's...
30:30It's not really as simple as that.
30:31I mean...
30:32The boys from Ogden called me earlier, right?
30:34Yeah.
30:34They told me that they dumped two billion litres of sewage in the Thames over two days.
30:40Environment Agency haven't got a Scooby.
30:42Did they send you the data?
30:43I've got the data, yeah.
30:44Right.
30:44Can you send that to us?
30:45I will send it to you.
30:46We're not going to let you down.
30:48Exactly.
30:48Please.
30:49You can do this.
30:50Come on, Pete.
30:51You're a legend, mate.
30:53Come on.
31:04We now have the lowest number of serious pollution incidents from water companies that we have
31:09yet recorded.
31:11I mean...
31:12I mean...
31:12More water companies are now at the highest level of performance.
31:16What we call four-star performance.
31:19I mean, we now have the lowest number of serious pollution incidents from water companies
31:24that we have yet recorded.
31:53I'm an environment officer at the agency.
31:56I investigate sewage pollution.
32:01When I first joined, it wasn't a job to get rich on.
32:07I could see I was making a difference.
32:12Corporations want to make money.
32:14We make sure that they don't poison the rivers doing it.
32:16We could investigate, prosecute, whatever it took.
32:22But then they told the companies that they could regulate themselves.
32:27That's our praise of self monastery.
32:29Exactly.
32:31Then came the Cameron cuts, then the trust cuts.
32:35They laid off investigators, slashed prosecutions.
32:38I mean, they even took our cars off of us so we couldn't visit pollution sites.
32:42So all these cuts meant you couldn't do your job properly?
32:46That's not it.
32:49In 2021, Sir James hiked the prices the water companies paid for their permits.
32:55It was called charge funded regulation.
32:58We get 96 million from the government.
33:01We are now pulling in 411 million from charges.
33:07All these cuts, they're just a smokescreen.
33:10We're swimming in cash.
33:13I am doing this because I know that it is wrong.
33:16And it has ruined my whole working life.
33:22Good luck.
33:36Right.
33:40Fucking hell.
33:42What should we do?
33:43Well, first we read them.
33:46And then I think we should call some journalists.
33:50The Environment Agency has refused to comment on whether agency directors currently hold shares in UK water companies.
33:59The agency claimed it would break data protection laws if it disclosed the information.
34:03Environment Agency chiefs secretly held a series of private dinners with water company bosses at the Royal Automobile Club in
34:11central London.
34:11Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act showed the meetings were held to discuss how to quell public anger
34:18over sewage space.
34:19As the sewage scandal deepens, Environment Agency CEO Sir James Bevan has been called to give evidence to a parliamentary
34:26committee.
34:27Well, we need to talk about what we say in public and the responsibilities we have.
34:33You have a duty not to openly criticise or discredit the organisation in the media or on social media.
34:43Or to disclose confidential information to anyone not authorised to receive it.
34:51If your comments, inside or outside work, impact on the agency's reputation by making derogatory comments about the organisation or
34:59your managers,
35:00or you make comments that bring the organisation into disrepute,
35:04you may be subject to disciplinary action.
35:08And in more serious cases, dismissal.
35:19I'm not saying , I've been telling you,
35:24the last five years,
35:26in the last ten years...
35:29I don't think I want to do this.
35:30You'll be fine.
35:32Need the toilet?
35:34I'm alright.
35:35Need a bloody toilet?
35:37Do you want a pie?
35:38What does that mean?
35:42well um my garden is a an island which the wind rush wraps around i've watched it closely for 18
35:54years and i watched the water turn brown i led a team of scientists using a machine learning
36:02analysis of two sewage treatment works run by tenth water one of those works the environments
36:10agency said over 10 years only two pollution incidents have been reported our machine learning
36:18analysis uh it showed hundreds of illegal spills more than than 300 lasted 24 hours
36:29and some uh longer than 10 days and some for a month have you shown this evidence to the
36:39environment agency uh well yeah i've shown the evidence like many times what usually happens
36:45is that they uh they say that uh they show a sign of interest but then nothing happens
36:54we work very closely with professor hammond of uh wind rush against sewage pollution we have a
37:02regular and very fruitful dialogue with him you worked closely with professor hammond
37:09uh he and ashley smith sent you at least 13 emails detailing evidence of illegal sewage dumping
37:17he published five evidence reports documenting water company criminality all of which were sent to
37:24you or your senior colleagues they invited you to come and look at the river in 2019
37:31and the following year sent you an email with the heading environment agency complicit in lawbreaking
37:44they never heard back you never once replied in five years
37:51how did you manage to work so closely with professor hammond when you never once spoke to him
37:55at the thames water modern treatment works there was a spill of 240 olympic swimming pools of sewage
38:06in a single day the existing monitoring failed to pick that up now why was that there will always be
38:14times when uh something happens usually accidentally but if we find that a water company has breached its
38:23permit we will take appropriate action does appropriate action include prosecuting water company executives
38:30prosecution is a very high bar but where we think that's appropriate we wouldn't hesitate
38:38did you prosecute in this case no have you ever prosecuted
38:43any water company executives no but if we thought the evidence warranted it we wouldn't hesitate
38:53last year you told this committee that you became aware of sewage dumping in may 2021 yes but three
39:00weeks after that you told the committee that the water companies were improving and that more of
39:04them were getting four out of four stars why were you telling the committee that the water companies
39:11were doing a four-star job well you've quoted everything i said i think i i stand by everything
39:22i said i think you'll find them mutually consistent the agency's job is to make sure the water companies
39:32obey the criminal law but it doesn't do it and the water companies do whatever they want
39:37the alleged crimes of their directors are never prosecuted they've built criminality into their
39:46business models because pollution is highly profitable and repeat offending has no consequences
39:53therefore in the light of the remarkable absence of any counter-corruption measures we demand an
39:59investigation into the environment agency the key test for me on regulation less regulation is it
40:08something that enables the builders not the blockers cut guidance by 80 percent we've also got to look
40:14at regulation regulations will go and where it is needlessly holding back the investment reduce the
40:20amount and the burden of regulation rip up the bureaucracy that blocks investment northumbria
40:25water recorded 30.1 spills per overflow over the course of 2023 280 000 hours and change in total
40:35the chief executive heidi mottram received a bonus of 234 000 pounds that year um why did you take for
40:44all tickets from the parent company well i didn't okay ck hutchins holdings owns 75 of chong kong
40:53infrastructure holdings the owner of northumbrian water and you declared 2 000 pounds in football
40:58tickets and hospitality on that occasion there was nobody from a water company that was involved in
41:04offering those tickets there was nobody from a water company at that event well i wouldn't have known
41:09that they were you said that these sort of people should potentially be in the dock uh if they have
41:16been
41:16found to break the rules you took two thousand pounds in tickets and hospitality for a football match from
41:21bosses linked to that company that polluted that water why should people in northumbria
41:26think that you're fit for your job i certainly wouldn't know that and judge me by what i do
41:30why not judge me by what i do that is what you did
41:44environment minister steve reed is pursuing legal action against a group of anglers trying to
41:50restore the ecosystem of their local river on the grounds that cleaning up individual rivers is
41:57administratively unworkable concerns are being raised about the number of leading labor figures
42:02with links to lobbying firms working for water companies among the invited guests at the
42:07government's international investment summit was macquarie bank described as the vampire kangaroo by
42:13critics macquarie presided over the near collapse of thames water leaving it 10 billion pounds in debt
42:19after having illegally dumped billions of liters of raw sewage
42:47i know i can't be left alone with her
42:54privatized water is a better deal than nationalized water
42:59that the water privatization i believe will go very successfully indeed that will go very
43:05successfully indeed and perhaps therefore we have better wait and see
43:13how did it come to this
43:16how did it how did it happen that that england is the only place in the whole world whose water
43:25system is wholly privatized that our seas and our rivers are full of shite
43:35i just feel like we're trying to bring down england's biggest organized crime syndicate
43:43i mean they're not the mafia these water companies they're not a drugs cartel but they do dump sewage a
43:51thousand times a day and almost all of those are illegal and the cash they've accumulated
43:59a hundred and forty five billion pounds since privatization and they've got that because
44:06they seem to have built criminality into their business models
44:11so they are like an organized crime syndicate
44:16and the ceos and the owners are like crime bosses i mean they don't murder people obviously they're not assassins
44:28but me and peter are sitting here waiting for these crime lords to put things right
44:36and if we leave them to their own devices they never will
44:43they never will we've put the things that we own and care about together we've put them into the
44:52hands of financial speculators whose job it is is just to make money we need to put the people who
45:00care
45:00in charge
45:02so
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