Scrap Overtime? "No Way" Says South East MEP

South East MEP Nirj Deva has been successful in preventing the EU's Bathing Water Directive from being extended to cover recreational waters, despite intense lobbying from pressure group Surfers Against Sewage.

The new directive would ensure higher water quality standards based on only two tests that affect public health, rather than nineteen tests as is the case under the old directive.

Some MEPs, mainly from the Green Group, had wanted to extend the standards of bathing water quality to all recreational waters- including those used by surfers and kayakers. But the move - which would potentially include vast swathes of sea, rivers and lakes - was rejected by MEPs from across the political spectrum, who were brought round to the Conservative view that such a move would have been too restrictive and vastly expensive to implement and monitor.

Speaking from Brussels, the South East MEP said:

"There is a need to take steps to ensure the quality of our bathing water, but we should be able to do so at reasonable cost to the taxpayer. Water companies have already spent billions of pounds cleaning up our beaches and water bills are increasing year on year. However much noise certain pressure groups may make, the point of view of the vast majority of people who pay water bills and never surf has to be taken into account.

By winning the debate on bathing water, we have ensured that Kent’s beaches are safe for bathing without adding huge new burdens onto water companies that would have been reflected in Kent’s water bills."