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Last year the comedian pulled off an epic stunt ahead of the release of his new documentary which investigates the state of the country’s sewage network.
After first announcing, and then cancelling, his podcast Turdcast, Joe then ‘accidentally’ leaked wastewater into Liverpool’s Albert Dock after unveiling his jaw-dropping mobile loo, the Turdis.
Tonight, Joe Lycett vs Sewage will hit screens, with the film showing him diving deep into the mind-boggling quantities of untreated sewage discharged into our waterways every day, before taking his fight to the water companies.
But ahead of it screening, Joe has now explained how he also tried to get the backing of the religious leader Justin Welby too.
Sharing a copy of an email he sent off while cameras were rolling last year, Joe explained how while working on the documentary he discovered that the Church of England’s pensions board holds a substantial amount of shares and bonds in UK water companies (as he specified, £365,000 in shares and £30m in bonds across the sector).
The comedian also disclosed that he also found out his dad had purchased him four shares in Severn Trent when he was an infant, however his returns were far less profitable, with his latest dividend payment a measly £2.56.
But, as Joe explained, he ‘loved sending an email’, so flicked one over to the Archbishop asking if he would also disinvesting in the water companies.
In his hilarious email, Joe began by writing: ‘Dear Archbishop who art in Canterbury…’
He then went to say he hoped the religious figure didn’t mind he was getting in touch since he wasn’t a practising Christian and had ‘broken a number of the Ten Commandments’ but hoped they had common ground beyond the fact they both had a ‘dress sense that can be described as gender fluid’.
In his letter, Joe flagged how Severn Trent and United Utilities have been responsible for ‘pumping millions of litres of untreated sewage’ into the UK’s waterways and ‘spoiling you by ruining what I am going to calling the majesty of God’s creation’.
As Joe explained to readers, last year the board divested from oil and gas companies for failing to show ‘sufficient ambition’ in hitting decarbonisation targets, which ‘made me pretty horny’.
His letter also saw him attempt to get a show of support for his cause, adding his ‘simple objective’ was to ‘make the world a better place’.
He later got a reply from the pensions board, who said they remained ‘deeply concerned by the operation of several companies, the effectiveness of the regulation of the sector and also how investors can better engage with the sector to improve it’.
Joe then shared how the board had subsequently confirmed that it ‘does not rule out disinvesting from companies or refusing to fund future debt if we believe the management are not suitably responsive to our engagement’.
Concluding his post, Joe remarked: ‘In other words, if you’re a water company: God is watching.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted representatives for the Archbishop of Canterbury for comment.
Joe Lycett vs Sewage airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.
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