British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under fire from his own father — on his sister's radio programme.
Author Stanley Johnson was a guest on his daughter Rachel Johnson's LBC phone-in radio show.
The Europhile environmentalist accused his son's government of not doing enough to stop private water companies releasing untreated sewage into waterways and the sea — and blamed it all on Brexit.
He said regulations adopted by the European Union's (EU) predecessor in 1975 "transformed the quality of bathing water around the whole of Europe," and as a result "we really did get a clean-up".
Ignoring arguments that the problem dates back to at least 2010 — six years before the British voted to leave the EU and nine before his son became PM, the elder Johnson said the blame fell on his government.
He insisted that Downing Street should commit to maintaining the same EU environmental standards which failed to stop sewage-dumping in the past.
The UK's regional water boards were privatised under legislation passed in 1989, under the third Conservative government of PM Margaret Thatcher.
Johnson's brother Jo, another opponent of Brexit, resigned as junior universities minister in September 2019 just two months after Johnson moved into Downing Street. He stood down as MP for Orpington before the snap general election in 2019.