Reform UK has pledged to end annual hosepipe bans by building reservoirs, fast-tracking desalination plants and abolishing government water-reduction targets.
“There will be no more hosepipe bans under Reform”, Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said. “We only have them because we’ve been governed by fools.”
Yusuf contrasted Britain with countries facing far greater natural constraints. “Singapore is a small, crowded island with only tiny rivers to speak of. It hasn’t rationed water since 1964. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are deserts. No hosepipe bans.”
Yet Britain, despite being “famous for rain”, has not built a major reservoir in 34 years, while its population has grown by 10 million.
“So they tell you to stop watering your garden”, Yusuf said. Meanwhile, housebuilding in Cambridgeshire is being held up because there is not enough water to connect new homes. “They are making us a third-world country.”
Reform UK would treat every reservoir as nationally significant infrastructure, allowing ministers to overcome planning obstacles. It would reduce the qualifying threshold from 30 million to 10 million cubic metres.
The party would also scrap targets requiring water consumption to fall by 20% by 2038, allowing companies to build capacity for actual demand.
“A prosperous country should not have to turn the taps off in the summer”, a Reform spokesman said. “This is the consequence of the Tories importing 12 million people over 14 years, placing huge strain on our infrastructure. We must embrace abundance and build as many reservoirs as it takes.”
Reform also promised to sweep away environmental red tape that has “come to prioritise the welfare of newts and badgers over and above the water supply of British households”.
“We will build reservoirs faster than at any time in history,” Yusuf said. “We will ensure a lack of water is never a constraint in Britain.”
“There will be no more hosepipe bans under Reform”, Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said. “We only have them because we’ve been governed by fools.”
Yusuf contrasted Britain with countries facing far greater natural constraints. “Singapore is a small, crowded island with only tiny rivers to speak of. It hasn’t rationed water since 1964. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are deserts. No hosepipe bans.”
Yet Britain, despite being “famous for rain”, has not built a major reservoir in 34 years, while its population has grown by 10 million.
“So they tell you to stop watering your garden”, Yusuf said. Meanwhile, housebuilding in Cambridgeshire is being held up because there is not enough water to connect new homes. “They are making us a third-world country.”
Reform UK would treat every reservoir as nationally significant infrastructure, allowing ministers to overcome planning obstacles. It would reduce the qualifying threshold from 30 million to 10 million cubic metres.
The party would also scrap targets requiring water consumption to fall by 20% by 2038, allowing companies to build capacity for actual demand.
“A prosperous country should not have to turn the taps off in the summer”, a Reform spokesman said. “This is the consequence of the Tories importing 12 million people over 14 years, placing huge strain on our infrastructure. We must embrace abundance and build as many reservoirs as it takes.”
Reform also promised to sweep away environmental red tape that has “come to prioritise the welfare of newts and badgers over and above the water supply of British households”.
“We will build reservoirs faster than at any time in history,” Yusuf said. “We will ensure a lack of water is never a constraint in Britain.”
