Rennie accuses First Minister of being “astonishingly complacent” on sewage

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament during First Minister’s Questions this afternoon, Scottish Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie MSP accused Humza Yousaf of being “astonishingly complacent” on sewage, after the First Minister attempted to dodge a question about the widespread contamination of bathing waters in Scotland.  

An investigation published over the weekend found that more than half of Scotland’s most popular beaches for wild swimming were found to be polluted with unsafe levels of sewage. In Lower Largo beach in Fife, faecal bacteria was found to be 50 times the legal limit due to sewer overflows.

When asked for his response to the investigation, the First Minister bizarrely said that he would “take some exception to the use of the term widespread.”  

Mr Rennie said:  

“I have to say I am astonished by the answer from the First Minister- it is astonishingly complacent.  

“50 out of 89 of the most popular beaches in Scotland are beyond safe standards for bathing.  

“That should be an alarm bell for the First Minister.

“So, when is he going to implement proper measurement of all sewage outflows and when at last is he going to set legally-binding targets to end the sewage dumping?”