Facing inflation rates in excess of 18 per cent, a painful recession, and the prospect of electricity bills costing more than a mortgage, the UK’s troubles are mounting. But weighing on our minds almost as much is the fact that we seem to be pumping unprecedented levels of sewage into the sea.
This would be far from ideal – to say the least – at any time of year, but coming in the peak of August, just as families are out trying to enjoy the beach, the issue is understandably hitting home.
But while it’s true that there have been days of huge sewage discharge into the sea, there has also been an awful lot of garbage talked as to why it’s happening. This has all helped to fuel the social media narrative and keep the issue so near the top of the political agenda.
The most common framing of the debate on social media is that Conservative MPs ‘voted to allow raw sewage into our beautiful seas and rivers’, often accompanied with an unflattering picture of the local MP in question.
Sewage isn’t being dumped at sea because of moustache-twirling villains or the absence of a relatively easy-to-obtain chemical
Such a framing should – but doesn’t – make us stop and think.
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