Canal shipping water from Wales to England named in honour of Boris Johnson could solve drought say senior Tories
Senior Conservatives are floating the idea of a ‘Great Boris Canal’ named after the outgoing Prime Minister to transfer water from the north of Wales to the south of England.
The £14billion plan was first suggested by Boris Johnson when he was the Mayor of London but according to the Daily Mail senior Conservatives are now pushing the idea again after parts of England were declared to be officially in drought.
“Senior Tories yesterday said the current droughts meant it was time to review the plan,” Brendan Carlin, the newspaper’s political reporter said.
They quoted a spokesman for the environment department Defra who said that “inter-regional water transfers can play an important role in moving water from areas of the country with plentiful supplies to those with high demand”.
The water would be shipped from the south of Scotland as well as the north of Wales as these areas receive significantly more rainfall than parts of England, “to create a giant ‘natural water grid’ across the UK”.
The scarred landscape of the climate crisis is clear to see from today’s extraordinary satellite image.https://t.co/KJtKnYGOoy pic.twitter.com/Oe63BIw5zJ
— James Cheshire (@spatialanalysis) August 10, 2022
Any such plan would however likely be particularly controversial in Wales where previous projects to supply England with water, particularly the drowning of Capel Celyn and Llawddyn, ignited political opposition.
Independence movement YesCymru have campaigned on the issue, calling for Wales to receive compensation in return for the 243bn litres of water a year extracted.
‘Done our best’
An official drought was declared in eight areas of England on Friday by the National Drought Group, which comprises representatives from the Government, water companies, the Environment Agency and others.
Today a hosepipe ban was introduced to Cornwall and parts of Devon for the first time in 26 years.
South West Water said the ban would come into force from August 23 to protect dwindling supplies.
The region has had little rain for the past eight months and July was the driest for nearly a century.
The Exeter-based firm is the sixth water company after Welsh Water, Southern Water, and South East Water to impose hosepipe restrictions.
Yorkshire Water has announced a ban will start on August 26 and Thames Water is planning one in the coming weeks.
An official drought was declared in eight areas of England on Friday by the National Drought Group, which comprises representatives from the Government, water companies, the Environment Agency and others.
“It’s the first time in 26 years but we’ve been left with no other choice. We need to have a hosepipe ban now to protect our precious water,” a South West Water spokesman said.
“We’ve done our best to avoid this ban. We’ve increased the amount of water we can store, doubling it since the last drought in 1976.
“We’ve opened reservoirs, installed a new borehole, and improved the way we can move water across the region to help keep everyone’s taps running.”
South West Water said it was now fixing about 2,000 leaks a month, with a third happening on customer supply pipes, which were being repaired for free.
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Bearing in mind that English inland waters are full of p**s and sh*t, calling a canal after Boris would be entirely appropriate. However, we have no more water to spare for them to waste.
When I read the headline, I said ” far canal”……very quickly!
What a blinking larf
Are thay going to ask the Welsh people if thay can steal the water thay stole all our minerals like in the past and gave the Welsh people a pittance.
It’s not April 1 is it? “Great Boris Canal” is at the far end of tinpot dictator fantasy
Well our economy is set up to satisfy their every need or whim, so by all means extract our water via Boris’ Canal. While they are at it, why not take the shirts off our kids back. It is our pleasure and honour to serve the Union in any way we can.
If it was a sewer running to the SE of England named after Boris. I’d be wholeheartedly behind it. No pun intended.
It would end up as a sewer as the water companies would dump untreated sewage in it the way they do now with rivers.
This greedy grab of water which the English won’t pay for! The whole world is watching and hate the English. If immoral people like Boris would stop having children out of wedlock, there would be plenty of water!
Brexit was the thing that made the world notice that England was not Britain.
Isn’t that the same Brexit that the Welsh voted for? I agree, it’s rubbish but Wales were in favour of this.
“The Welsh” didn’t vote for Brexit. A slight majority of voters IN Wales voted for it. Analysis of voting patterns suggests that a majority of English settlers in Wales (English make up 20% of the population here) voted for it. Not saying Wales doesn’t have its fair share of morons too, but in our harassed little nation, English Brexit voters topped up our home-grown idiots.
There is more Democracy in my little finger than there is in the EU the EU is undemocratic full stop.
Yeah, all that voting they do….
Sadly it was generational…please mum and dad don’t vote out and then the charity shop lady who told me she had waited 50 years to get her own back, multiply this a thousand times and then there were all the folks who had fled to Wales from multi-cultural England and brought their poison with them. The amount of locals who had no idea what that blue flag with the circle of stars meant did my crust in, while Plaid stood back and kept quiet, we did what we could to explain to those who came in our shop but it… Read more »
Hi read Cardiff university data
Up until the referendum, apart from the final fortnight, there was no real interest in Brexit. A tidal wave of filthy lies got it through, and then we reverted to preferring to be in the EU. The vote was the result of illegal trickery.
I doubt English people are supporting this. Plus charging for water. Lastly racist.
Please explain ‘racist’. How? Why?
Come on England talk to your offshored water barons…what’s that you completely screwed up, not one reservoir created out of 72 billion quid siphoned off…nearly as much leaked as delivered and you want to steal more via the Fat Shanks ditch, sorry, no can do…
Someone hold my pint of delicious mountain spring water…
So no £5 billion from HS2 which is rightfully ours but Tories can suddenly find £14billion because south of England is involved and is suffering a little bit.Tory doctrine.
You can’t grow magic money trees without someone else’s water…
No consequential, just consequences. English exploitation. 🏴 🌊
Just like HS2 we will probably be told this is an ‘Englandandwales project’.
Bet it will be an EnglandAndWales “shared prosperity fund” theft too
That should be “its role”.
I’ve stated this many times in the past how Boris Johnson wanted to flood Wales to supply the SE with water as London Mayor. So the news how the Tories are actively considering flooding more Welsh valleys isn’t a surprise.
Tryweryn & Elan valley WILL happen again if we do nothing. Already England is syphoning Welsh water further into drought areas using existing channels, but it’s not enough to supply the thirsty South East. And If we don’t become more proactive as a people by fighting this pending English exploitation will be resource raped once more by Whitehall.
Bring back theMAC
What a clown. If you are representative of what it is to be British Unionist no wonder I and others want independence. 🥴🇬🇧
Wherever the British(English) empire has been it’s purely for exploitation,exploitation and exploitation.Should they attempt this a progrmme of civil disobedience should be implemented..
‘Boris Canal’. Is this a new euphemism for the back passage ?
It was only a matter of time for the thieves to turn up.
They’ve done it before and they’ll do it again.
So they are planning on the transfer of water from Wales and Scotland to the SE of England hundreds and hundreds of mile away why ??? Drought in this country why ??? We are a country surrounded by the stuff “water” admittedly salt water but surely it would be more logically to take from the ever rising sea level with pipe lines all around this wonderful island and transferred inland to key salutation points for distribution throughout the rest of the country whenever the need arises for agriculture tackling fires sports ground and the like these dont require safe drinking… Read more »
Yet another vanity project.
Ask Londoners if they are happy with the millions squandered on the ‘Garden Bridge’.
‘We’re taking water from Wales and Scotland because it’s all in OUR country and to add a major insult to an even longer standing major insult, we’re going to name them ‘The Great Boris Canals’ after a man who, apart from being the worst Prime Minister in the history of the UK so far, has done nothing but bring great harm and shame upon this entire island making all the people on it most unwelcome all across Europe’. So would say an honest spokesperson – if we could find them.
Great idea, but first we have to agree where the meter is going to be located and the price per cubic meter. Then set up fair credit terms like weekly account paid 3 days in arrears. All doable in today’s EFT age.
If they are foolish enough to push this proposal through, then I can see more than political concequences.
Has anyone wondered why Tory politicians make these insane proposals and proclamations and why the Torygraph publish such ridiculous stories about Wales when they are so dependent on our water and other natural resources? Can they truly be that stupid and is this really their plan to strengthen the dis- United Kingdom? Maybe they are prodding the sleeping Dragon just to see if it has any fight?
Maybe Scott and Wales will join together and invade England
Or… they could build their own reservoirs in England and tap the Lake district.
This is just outright colonialism and, I suspect, designed to be an intentional insult to incite anger, if not violence.
If they have the audacity to go ahead with this it should not be pretty or easy for them or anyone involved on any level.
This is worth a real fight.
Cumbria outlaws the use of the term Lake District
Wait until you see the piece the Guardian have written about Llanwddyn…
Thieves are at it again. If this thievery channel is ever built I shall p*** and s*** in it every single day.
Desalination plants.
Really don’t need to say any more.
They have one already in East London.
Apparently it’s “too expensive” to run.
Read into that wha you will.
I guess it means it’s not generating enough profit.
Just looking out of my window, I’d say there’s rather more than a hint of false colour in that satellite map… What are the odds of J Cheshire and his typical social website deceit coming from the SE of england?
Absolutely disgusting. We need out of this suffocating union and if they want our water, they can bl**dŷ well pay for what we are willing to sell.
Otherwise, get your corrupt, greedy mitts off!
If you want our water – you have to pay for it ! Enough of the freebies!!!
The Guardian takes a rather flippant tone regarding the exposed bones of Llanwddyn as water levels behind the dam fall. One could be forgiven for thinking that there could be a conspiracy between ‘senior Tories’ quoted above and the editor of the Guardian…I fear some harsh comments on N.C in a few hours time…I’m about to enter my 8th decade and it must be over 40 years since I last took to the streets in protest…
It’s about time us English get something back for all the money we give them.
Wouldn’t it be something if they could stand on there own two legs .we can live in hope
The ruling elite in England stole all of minerals out of Wales and gave nothing in return just slaves for iron and Cole Masters and practically destroyed our language and Culture
Don’t talk crap you could think that you lot are the only ones who pay tax ,comments like that make the English the most hated country in the world I’m Welsh and spent 16 years in the RAF what have you done for Britain
What a great show Valley put on the other day, I was lucky to be a mile away that day and it was wall to wall blue sky and the Arrows flew their pants off for their Alma Mater…needless to say I was in the cadets and had two flights from there back in the 60’s…
Have you actually thought this statement through? It seems to me you want it both ways. You vociferously complain about how England subsidises Wales, the truth, or not, of which is another story, yet you, through your government, refuse to grant Wales independence
Your ancestors were hell-bent on conquering and running things your way so as compensation you can keep us. You have stolen all you wanted and now that you have had all our minerals and ores you want to dump us. Where are you lot stealing from now I wonder?
This might just be the catalyst we need to get our independence.
Look if we have something they’re desperate for then let’s turn it into the new gold, the new oil. Saudi Arabia was just a desert before they discovered all the oil under it …. desalination plants are incrredibly expensive to build and run …. so let’s take control of our resources and offer them a slightly cheaper sustainably sourced product … and in the process transform Cymru into the wealthy Scandinavianesque economy we know in our bones, its waiting to become.
Seriously, this is as stupid as a bridge to Ireland! Is that Baffoon still in power. Time for a general election I think. Enough stupidity going on without these idiots adding to it… Just saying…
or Spaffoon …
How come these “senior Tories” (who are afraid to give their names) don’t know that the Llangollen canal has been supplying water to Lloegr for ages?
£14bn could build a few reservoirs of their own in England. Flood a few villages there instead. However, whatever England wants England gets!! Look at HS2. They are helping themselves to British money ad hoc and without asking. The rest of the nations have to take begging bowls to the government. I wonder if they would spend £14bn to transport water to Wales or Scotland? We could go whistle.