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Available for over a year

It’s delightful to see so many tourists back in Britain this summer. and like them, I was looking for something new to see. On Sunday, I chose an unconventional option – the London Loo Tour. It was a fun, fascinating, if sometimes frustrating wander through the history, geeky facts and modern-day challenges of public toilets. One disconcerting fact I learnt about public conveniences is that according to the British Toilet Association we have lost 60% of them since 2012. Very inconvenient. The Victorian inventor of the first public flush toilets, George Jennings, argued that the provision of such facilities is the true measure of civilisation. Sometimes, I feel as though Victorian hesitation to discuss bodily matters still continues. We’ve done a brilliant job of bringing other biological subjects such as menopause and prostate cancer into public conversations but are not nearly vocal enough about loos. Yes, to talking about hot flushes but not yet about all of our need to flush. Although the needs of people with illnesses and disabilities are exacerbated by a lack of public toilets, we all need the loo. This is a most frequent private need that depends on public provision. Judaism acknowledges the blessing of healthy functioning bodies with a prayer that we say every morning and every time after we use the toilet. It’s a prayer of gratitude and appreciation for bodies when they work properly, stating that if they don’t, it’s impossible to live. The blessing shows subtle ancient humour. It includes a pun for God’s throne, as the “Seat of Dignity”. This blessing uses the word ‘dignity’ wisely. It ensures we link health with dignity and acknowledges that inadequate provision restricts opportunities to socialise and denies us dignity The Levelling Up Bill currently being discussed in Parliament has its critics – but I haven’t heard any objections to the proposal to appoint a Toilet Commissioner to devise a national Toilet Plan. According to a recent public health report, 1 in 5 of us don’t leave our homes as regularly as in the past due to the lack of public conveniences. In the Torah, Moses laid down regulations to meet the sanitary needs of the Israelites: “Mark out an area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourselves.” Maybe he should have said ‘re-live’ instead of ‘relieve’ because humans must do five things to live – we all need to breath, eat, sleep, drink and go to the toilet. These are literally vital. Some form of national Toilet Plan will return dignity to all of us.