Sir Sadiq Khan has been put on blast for prioritising his “middle-class friends” in his latest bid to clean up the River Thames.
Following in the likes of Paris and New York, the Mayor of London is said to be peering at new plans to make the UK’s Capital a “swimmable city”, complete with a “floating pool” in the Thames.
But political commentator Benedict Spence told GB News the water quality is “never going to be good” simply given the sheer quantity of people who live in London.
“This is not to say that we should just leave the Thames as it is in an appalling state,” he started.
He continued: “But most major rivers, through most major cities, through most of history, have been pretty poor condition because they are naturally used as sewers.
“We have slightly moved on from that, but I think we do need to remember this is a city of however many million people.
“It’s never going to be particularly good water quality. It’s also never going to be properly swimmable because of the tidal nature, because of the flow.
“Even if you were to stop river traffic, it still wouldn’t be safe for the average person to swim across.”
Mr Spence seemed sceptical towards the idea
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GB NEWS
Mr Spence then went on to pick apart what he believes to be Sir Sadiq’s real motivation for the clean, green agenda.
“It’s a nice thing to do, but it does ever so slightly sort of reek of something that shouldn’t really be that much of a priority.
Wild swimming is a very kind of middle-class sort of pastime. And I think it’s one of those things that’ll play really well with some of the mayor’s friends, perhaps saying, ‘I’m cleaning up the river’.
“Does it actually impact anybody’s lives? I’m not sure.”
City Hall published a map of potential contenders for safe open water swimming
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GLA
However, fellow panellist and commentator Jonathan Lis argued that by making wild swimming more accessible, it would encourage more people to join in, stressing the importance of making it seem “safe and welcoming”.
Nevertheless, Mr Spence simply said that “it’s not safe to begin with”, adding: “How can you make a river that flows that fast safe?
Experts have echoed similar concerns over the seemingly controversial plans, with Chris Romer-Lee, the London-based founder of Swimmable Cities telling The i “sewage, shipping and safety” pose the greatest challenges to the scheme.
Currently, the Thames handles more than half of Britain’s inland freight every year, crowning the waterway the busiest in the land.
Equally, the Thames is massively polluted with an abundance of sewage and chemicals alike, flowing into the major river from more than 50 tributaries.
The Greater London Authority has identified eight points across the city, such as Canary Wharf and Hampstead, where safe open water swimming could become feasible.
In the run-up to 2029, the Labour mayor’s team will pinpoint a number of locations to pour funds into to make sure wild swimming is accessible for Londoners across the Capital.
City Hall has highlighted Teddington and Albany Reach as possible contenders, as well as Hackney Marshes and River Roding over in the east.