[heero_yuy]

Something that crept in under the radar is that in 2000 the then (Labour) government signed up to an EU environmental directive that precludes dredging of any river except main navigations upon pain of massive fines from Brussels. You know, preservation of bird habitats, mussel beds, fishing etc etc. This is why so many water courses have become silted up, of course it is convenient for El Gov as it saves money but maybe peoples ire should be partly directed at our masters in Brussels.

Sorry I can't give the link but I'm on a narrow band connection that means searches take forever but the story was in today's Sun and the editorial amongst other places.