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Less than 20 years ago the river Aire was "dead" below Keighley, with no fish able to survive the pollution from the raw sewage outflows at Knostrop and Esholt.  In the 1980s the Thatcher government created the privately owned Yorkshire Water. Ever since campaigners have harried the company to clean up the river, and being private and caring about its image, it has invested millions in sewage treatment.  Last week porpoises were seen in the tidal part of the river, presumably feeding on the increasing fish stocks. 

The Yorkshire Evening Post trumpeted the news, as evidence of the river getting cleaner, but spoilt their report by giving credit to campaigners and the City Council. iGreen readers will not be surprised to learn that the investment that made the river cleaner was entirely that of Yorkshire water and its private shareholders. It would never had been made if the company had remained in public ownership.

Leeds 29 April 2001