THIS IS, DECLARED Sir Jon Cunliffe, a modern “Great Stink moment”. In July 1858 the stench of untreated waste, wafting into Parliament from the banks of the Thames, at last became too much for MPs. They soon approved Joseph Bazalgette’s plan for new sewers for London. In 2025, said Sir Jon on July 21st, presenting a 464-page report on the structure and oversight of the water industry in England and Wales, another clean-up is due, again with “direction from the very top”.
