'Completely unbelievable!' Mike Parry blasts scientists warning Britain set for hosepipe ban despite wettest winter

'Completely unbelievable!' Mike Parry blasts scientists warning Britain set for hosepipe ban despite wettest winter

WATCH NOW: Mike Parry blasts scientists warning Britain of hosepipe ban

GB News
Georgia Pearce

By Georgia Pearce


Published: 03/04/2024

- 11:33

Scientists warned of 'pressure on water supplies' this summer if the UK experiences 'below-average rainfall'

Broadcaster and journalist Mike Parry has hit out at British scientists, after a new report has warned that this summer could see hosepipe bans imposed on Britons.

The new data comes despite the country's wettest ever winter, with October 2023 to February 2024 recording the most rainfall since records began.


In a discussion on GB News, Parry hit out at the "unbelievable" warning by scientists and said "we don't contain the water in enough reservoirs" in the UK.

Jamie Hannaford, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, warned that if there is "below-average rainfall sustained over the coming months", it could "put pressure on water supplies in areas where there is limited groundwater storage".

Mike Parry and stock image of hosepipe

​Mike Parry says scientists warning of a UK hosepipe ban is 'unbelievable' 

GB News / Getty

Parry highlighted the lack of reservoirs in the UK and said a new reservoir "hasn't been built for the last 30 years".

Parry fumed: "We need to cover our reservoirs because in the summer the water evaporates and that's why we've got no water."

Criticising the British water companies, GB News presenter Andrew Pierce said they are a "disgrace" and warned of Thames Water "going bust", following their latest sewage spill scandal.

Former Labour MP Stephen Pound was in agreement with Andrew and said the "real problem" is with "infrastructure" of the water industry.

Mike Parry

Mike Parry called on the water companies to build more reservoirs to store the water

GB News

Pound noted: "The water companies have been pumping billions into the bulging pockets of their shareholders, instead of putting it into infrastructure."

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Parry also hit out at the water companies and their shareholders, fuming: "The ÂŁ7billion that the shareholders have been paid in dividends, you could build a reservoir for about ÂŁ500million. It is an absolute disgrace the way the money's gone.

"What I think should happen for the future of Thames Water is just let capitalism take its path and it goes bust. And then you have to rely on the business principles to put it back together again. Otherwise, if it's nationalised, we're all going to have to pay to keep it going."

Andrew responded, adding: "There's no competition anyway, because my water has to come from one water company, there's no choice to go anywhere else."

Parry then joked: "It's not as if you go into your kitchen and say, shall I have some Thames Water today, or shall I have some Southern Water?"

Stock image of rain in London

The UK saw its wettest winter on record from October to February

PA

Bev shared her thoughts on the possible ban amid the current scandals with UK water companies, explaining: "I think people feel so strongly about the situation with water in this country, I think it's a proper vote winner.

"And if Labour came out and said, we promise to build X number of reservoirs, over the next 30 years..."

Parry agreed, and said his own road where he lives "becomes a river" when it rains. Parry revealed: "All the grids that we used to have when I was little kid, where the rainwater went down, are all bunged up with leaves and twigs, so they don't go down there anymore.

"It goes straight down the road and the bottom floods. And guess what? Two days later it's all gone. Why can't they contain that water? Why can't they get it?"

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