Facts
During the 2023 Conservative Party conference Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed that “Conservatives love our natural world. We’re determined to be good stewards of it.”
The Rivers Trust’s 2021 report revealed that “none of our rivers are in good overall health. They all fail chemical standards, and just 14% pass the bar for good ecological health. This has huge implications for nature and for all of us.”
Likewise, a UK Parliament Committee report from 2022 found that the “chemical cocktail” of “sewage, slurry and plastic polluting English rivers puts public health and nature at risk.”
The report blames “chronic underinvestment and multiple failures in monitoring, governance and enforcement.”
Sunak also rolled-back and delayed many environmental pledges in 2023: the ban on sale of new petrol and diesel cars has been delayed from 2030 to 2035, while the banning of off-grid fossil fuels has been delayed from 2026 to 2035.
Verdict
Sunak is not a “good steward” of the natural world. England’s rivers “all fail chemical standards”, and green policies are being pushed back and delayed.
We try to be careful with our language, but this was an especially disreputable lie from Rishi Sunak.
We emailed Rishi Sunak’s office and Downing Street offering them the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply.