Liberal democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has revealed he would introduce plans to support local news publishers if elected to government.
Speaking exclusively to Wokingham Today during a visit to Wargrave this week to highlight the problem of sewage in rivers, Sir Ed said: “One of the ways we want to support local media is to support them in holding water companies to account.
“We find, wherever we go, that local residents are really worried about the local environment, whether it’s the rivers and sewage, or other issues such as development on the green belt for example.
“We think there’s a case for the government to support environmental journalists at the local level.”
He confirmed a Liberal Democrat government would seek to introduce a tax on water companies, and others, that would fund environmental journalists at a local level.
“You (local media) can help monitor these companies, monitor these environmental issues, and that would obviously support local media.”
“Local news is an essential part of our democracy.”
