The UK's political parties have announced their manifestos ahead of the General Election on 4 July.
The plans to tackle the most relevant issues to the paddling community are highlighted below (in alphabetical order).
Conservatives
The Conservatives manifesto maintains a commitment made by the Government, to give people access to nature within 15' walk of home. They have however, emphatically ruled out any moves towards a ‘universal right to roam'.
Announced in January 2023, details on how the 15' to nature commitment would be delivered are still unclear. What is clear, is that access to and on blue spaces is not currently being considered as part of the policy.
On water quality and pollution, the Conservatives are maintaining their commitment to reinvest money from fines into river restoration projects and will consider banning CEO bonuses.
The Conservatives have pledged to:
- Work with the regulator (Ofwat) to further hold water companies to account, including banning executive bonuses if a firm has committed a serious criminal breach.
- Fines from water companies will be invested in river restoration projects, including linking up healthy habitats to increase the benefits for wildlife and water quality, creating a ‘river recovery network'.
- Continue to work with landowners, charities and others to open up more ‘access to nature' routes, but not impose a universal Right to Roam.
- Maintain commitment for everyone to have access to nature within 15 minutes' walk of where they live. To deliver this, they will:
- Designate an 11th National Park alongside investing to improve existing National Parks and protected landscapes.
- Deliver commitments on National Trails including the Coast to Coast Path and the King Charles III England Coast Path.
Greens
The Green Party have pledged to introduce a “new English Right to Roam Act” which would “extend people's access to green space and waterways close to where they live”.
In the more detailed version of their manifesto, they confirm that this new Act “would be based on the model in Scotland and include sensible exceptions, such as fields where crops are growing”.
It would be “accompanied by a renewed and strengthened Countryside Code which clearly sets out rights and responsibilities when accessing nature.
The Green Party have pledged to:
- Elected Greens will campaign to end sewage entering our rivers and seas by taking the water companies back into public ownership.
- They also propose to extend people's access to green space and waterways close to where they live with a new English Right to Roam Act, based on the model in Scotland and include sensible exceptions, such as fields where crops are growing.
- They want to also set aside 30% of our land and seas by 2030 in which nature will receive the highest priority and protection.
- We will introduce a new Right to Roam Act for England, that would enable people to access green space close to where they live and be a first step to resetting our relationship with the natural world.
- A Right to Roam Act would be accompanied by a renewed and strengthened Countryside Code which clearly sets out rights and responsibilities when accessing nature.
- Campaign to ensure that everybody lives within 15 minutes' walking distance of a nature-rich green space.
Ensure car free access to the National Parks with new cycling, walking, wheeling and bus links.
Labour
In the last 12 months, Labour have made positive noises towards exploring new ‘responsible' rights of access, including blue spaces.
At the Outdoors For All event on the 6th March, Shadow Minister for Nature & Rural Affairs, Toby Perkins said “On extending access rights to more landscapes, be they up hill, down dale, into rivers, into woods; Labour will ensure that people will have a right to responsible access to nature which they can enjoy to the full.”
Details on what a commitment to expanding ‘responsible access' might look like have not been included in the Labour's 2024 manifesto.
Labour is ‘committed to expanding access to sport and nature’
On the topic of water quality, Labour have pledged to go much further, faster to prevent water companies polluting our waters.
Labour have stopped short however of setting any clear targets or dates for ending the practice of discharging raw sewage into rivers.
Labour have committed to:
- Create nine new National River Walks, one in each region of England.
- Put failing water companies under special measures to clean up our waterways.
- Give regulators new powers to block the payment of bonuses to executives who pollute our waterways and bring criminal charges against persistent law breakers.
- Impose automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing and ensure independent monitoring of every outlet.
- Labour will expand nature-rich habitats such as wetlands, peat bogs and forests so families can explore and wildlife can thrive, including on public land.
Liberal Democrats
In 2019, the Liberal Democrats committed to exploring a right to roam in inland waterways and in their 2024 manifesto, have reaffirmed this pledge.
Of the three main parties, the Liberal Democrats have set out the most detail on how they will protect the natural environment by preventing sewage pollution, recovering nature and ensuring everyone has access to healthy green and blue spaces.
Liberal Democrats push for ‘important access to nature’
The Liberal democrats have pledged to:
- Significantly increase the amount of accessible green space, including protecting up to a million acres, completing the coastal path, exploring a ‘right to roam' for waterways and creating a new designation of National Nature Parks.
- Turn water companies into ‘public benefit companies'.
- They plan to ban bonuses for water bosses until discharges and leaks end.
- They will replace Ofwat with a tough new regulator with new powers to prevent sewage dumps.
- Introduce a ‘blue corridor' programme for rivers, streams and lakes to ensure clean and healthy water and setting new ‘blue flag' standards.
- Pass a new Environmental Rights Act, recognising everyone's human right to a healthy environment and guaranteeing access to environmental justice.
Comment by Ben Seal, Head of Access and Environment
Following months of hard work through the Outdoors for All Coalition, through our Clean Water Sports Coalition and with sector partners in Wildlife & Countryside Link, the commitments set out by Labour and by the Conservatives are underwhelming.
Neither party has set out bold plans for the sport and recreation sector and the commitments to cleaning up our waters and creating more places for our community to get active have, in our opinion, fallen some way short.
On water quality, the Conservatives appear to be committing to more of the same, while Labour are pledging to take a more proactive stance towards tackling the water company bosses over sewage pollution.
Neither party has set out any clear targets for when they will end sewage pollution in our waterways.
On access, it is clear that a Conservative Government would be unlikely to consider any change in their stance towards access on water. They have ruled out any chance of a ‘universal right to roam', preferring instead to stick with their 15 minutes to nature commitment (which does not included access on water to date).
Labour on the other hand have at least said in recent months that they will look at expanding ‘responsible access' to green and blue spaces. Disappointingly, this has not been backed up with a clear manifesto commitment.
Given the widespread public support for access to enjoy our green and blue spaces and the millions of people this touches, it is disappointing that the Labour have not set out a bolder commitment around responsible access.
Something that was unexpected was the Labour commitment to create nine National River Walks. While not unwelcome, given the huge demand now for access on our inland waters, it does pose questions around why not the water itself? As something that was left out of the CRoW Act, by the Labour Government in the year 2000, this still feels like unfinished business and something sorely needed today.
Worryingly, a recent article in the Guardian suggested that Labour would “…have Natural England negotiate with landowners for rights of way. Compulsory purchase is not envisaged, and if landowners object then ways could have to be found around their parcels of land”.
For linear features like rivers (where alternative routes are not an option) this would prove a major challenge, effectively continuing the present Government policy toward negotiating access with each and every landowner along rivers. This is something Paddle UK and its partners in the Outdoors For All Network will have to monitor carefully.
Unsurprisingly, the Liberal Democrats and Greens have set out the boldest visions for the environment and our access to it. While The Liberal Democrats have specifically identified access to water as something that would be reviewed, should they take power, it is the Greens who have gone the furthest, stating that they would bring a new Act that “would be based on the model in Scotland and include sensible exceptions, such as fields where crops are growing”.
Perhaps in some of the most challenging financial times society has experienced, where so many things in society feel broken, it was optimistic to expect any party to set out big vision commitments on access to green and blue spaces. It was clear this election was always going to be fought on the economy, so maybe we should not be surprised at the lack of bold ideas around sport, nature and our environment.
However, as the creation of our National Parks proved during the postwar years, we know for a fact that access to nature plays an incredibly important part to play in helping heal our nation and bringing society together.
At a time where (in Keir Starmer's words) we are so desperately in need of a period of ‘renewal', or in Rishi Sunak's words ‘a bold plan for the future', is it really unreasonable to expect our political leaders to recognise what a key role access to nature and protection of our environment can play in making our nation a happier, healthier place to live?
With the two main party manifestos falling some way short of what is needed, what is really clear is that we must keep up the pressure and demand our political leaders go further to secure fair, shared, responsible access to healthy green and blue spaces.
What can I do?
To find out the different party candidates standing for election where you live, visit Who Can I Vote For.
Enter your postcode and click through to view each candidate and see if they have a public email address. If no email address is provided, you may wish to send them a letter in the post, or attend a local hustings to ask questions of the candidates.
We only have a few weeks remaining to challenge the candidates on the pledges they have set out and how they will affect YOU and your river.
How will they work to expand our access to blue space?
What are they doing to prevent sewage pollution and make our waters cleaner?