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Rivals star Danny Dyer, his daughter Dani and singer Becky Hill have joined a protest demanding public ownership of the water industry.
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Dyer → see → industry
The 'stop the sewage' protest took place in Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent, today, as more than 315,000 people signed a petition calling for the water industry to be returned to public ownership.
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industry → stop → ownership
Love Island winner Dani, 30, took a break from Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals for the demonstration.
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Dani → take → demonstration
She was reunited with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin on Saturday's launch episode, who she had been paired with on last year's series before being forced to pull out due to injury.
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she → reunite → injury
She was also joined by her actor father Danny, 49, and singer-songwriter Becky, 32, as they met other protesters and held up placards reading 'Gimme gimme gimme clean water'.
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they → join → water
Ed Acteson, co-founder of SOS Whitstable and creator of the petition, said the public has had 'enough of being asked to accept polluted waterways, failing infrastructure and rising bills while shareholders and senior executives continue to be rewarded'.
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shareholders → say → waterways
He added: 'Water is an essential public service, not a vehicle for private profit.
'
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Water → add → profit
We want an industry run in the interests of people and the environment, with its income reinvested in the system rather than extracted from it.'
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income → want → it
Danny Dyer (centre left) and Dani Dyer (right) at SOS Whitstable's Stop the Sewage protest at Leysdown-on-Sea in Sheerness, Kent, today
They were joined by singer Becky Hill (fourth from left) at today's protest
Becky at SOS Whitstable's Stop the Sewage protest at Leysdown-on-Sea this afternoon
Cliff Roney, a GMB activist who has worked in the water industry for more than 40 years, said: 'I have seen this industry at its very best and now at its very worst.
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industry → stop → worst
Infrastructure is falling to pieces, there has been a lack of maintenance and investment, no reservoirs are being built, and staff are on their knees trying to keep the system running.
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staff → fall → system
'If the industry is not brought back into public ownership quickly, we are heading towards a national catastrophe.'
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we → bring → catastrophe
Official figures released by the Environment Agency last month suggest the number of pollution incidents caused by Britain's water companies is 20 per cent lower than the real number, the Mail revealed.
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Mail → release → number
Data published by the agency showed some 2,801 water pollution incidents had been reported in 2024, an increase of 29 per cent on the year before, something it branded 'unacceptable'.
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it → publish → year
But figures obtained under Freedom of Information legislation by whistleblower Robert Forrester showed the original release missed out hundreds of pollution incidents, and didn't include eight of England's water suppliers.
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release → obtain → suppliers
In fact, some 3,513 incidents of pollution were recorded against water companies in England in 2024, meaning a fifth were not admitted in public data.
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fifth → record → data
The number of serious incidents, defined as bearing a significant or severe impact to the environment, also rose by 19 per cent from the reported 75 to 92.
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number → define → 92
Mr Forrester said the discrepancies are partly due to incidents only later being included, or given the correct category of seriousness, following lengthy appeal investigations.
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incidents → say → investigations
Danny and Dani speak to other members of the protest at today's demonstration
Love Island winner Dani took a break from Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals for the demonstration
Dani and Becky chat during the protest calling for the water industry to be returned to public ownership
Mr Forrester, who worked for the EA for more than 20 years and had a character based on him in Channel 4's dramatisation of the water industry scandal, Dirty Business, accused the EA of 'covering up' the scale of pollution.
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who → speak → pollution
He blamed water companies challenging reported incidents and their categorisation, and said this means they are not recorded correctly.
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they → blame → incidents
He said: 'Covering up the scale of the problem suggests the priority for the Environment Agency leadership is still to protect the water industry rather than regulate them.
'This manipulation comes after many serious incidents have already been subject to delays in reporting and downgrading without attendance.
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incidents → say → attendance
It appears a culture of deception to the public, as opposed to transparency, and a continuation in restricting the frontline in their duties who desperately want to hold water companies to account.'
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who → appear → account
Dani is married to professional footballer Jarrod Bowen, who plays as a right winger or forward for EFL Championship club West Ham United.
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who → play → United
The couple share twins Summer and Star, three, while Dani is also the mother of Santiago, five, from a previous relationship.
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Dani → share → relationship
The Aporia
