Rivers of S**: unbelievably, the Tory government and regulators Ofwat and the Environment Agency reckon they have not broken the law by failing to regulate this torrent of untreated sewage properly.
Unbelievable but true: the UK’s Tory government is digging its heels in and insisting that it, together with regulators Ofwat and the Environment Agency, has not broken the law over how it regulates sewage releases into the UK’s waterways.
The UK’s environment watchdog suspects the government and water regulators have broken the law over how they regulate sewage releases.
It follows continued high levels of sewage releases in England which topped 825 times a day last year.
Campaigners and opposition MPs have called the regulators “complicit” in allowing the pollution.
The government said it did not agree with the Office for Environmental Protection’s “initial interpretations”.
Following complaints to the OEP over sewage in June 2022 it announced it was investigating whether England’s regulators, Ofwat and the Environment Agency, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), were correctly enforcing the law on water companies.
In response to the announcement the government said: “The volume of sewage discharged is completely unacceptable. That is why we are the first government in history to take such comprehensive action to tackle it.”
That is hardly an alibi as it is the first UK government in history that needed to!
As for the substantive complaint – that far too much untreated sewage is stinking up our waterways – the instinctive urge is to come out with a lavatorial expletive like, “No sh**, Sherlock!”
It seems clear that there is far too much sh** flying around – as much from the mouths of government spokespeople as from privatised water firms’ pipes.
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Children have the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and governments must urgently act to ensure this, the United Nations says.
In a new report, the UN Child Rights Committee says that climate change is affecting children’s rights to life, survival and development.
It says young children are among the most vulnerable, yet their voices are rarely heard in climate change debates.
Tuesday’s report outlines new guidance for governments to follow.
Drawn up with the help of young people, it includes phasing out fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy.
UN countries will also be required to take measures to protect children from the harmful effects of climate change, such as monitoring air quality, regulating food safety and tackling emissions and toxic lead exposure.
Countries should also address the “clear emerging link” between climate change and children’s mental health, identifying eco-anxiety and depression as conditions that are on the rise.
And the UN says that young people must be included when drawing up new guidance.
None of this will happen in the UK, of course. Remember what happened when a UN rapporteur found that the government of this nation institutionally discriminates against disabled people? (Hint: nothing came of it apart from a stream of abuse directed at the rapporteur concerned, from the UK government.)
Meanwhile, what’s going on here in the UK?
"The Kent area also suffers from nutrient enrichment of coastal waters due to sewage discharge…
In 2023, between Herne Bay and Whistable alone, Southern Water has already released sewage into the ocean at least 374 times via storm overflows." https://t.co/ZT0EAqsSFh
And let’s be fair: attempts to improve the environment have been aimed in the wrong direction – at people who have little choice about whether to use polluting systems, rather than the 100 or so corporations that cause 70 per cent of the pollution in the world:
Exxon Mobil lobbyists threw their weight behind a carbon tax because they knew it would turn people against ‘the green agenda’ – and they were right.
Taxing people for moving without offering alternatives just helps big oil.
We can see which way the smog is blowing, can’t we?
The UN can tell every country in the world what needs to be done, and governments will tell private citizens that they need to clean up all the pollution, while allowing the culprit corporations to continue stinking up the land, waterways and skies – and possibly taking donations from those big businesses while doing so.
Tough luck, kids. Reach into your pockets or your wallets and take out some paper money, if you have it. Take a good look at it because it is more important to the people who shape the future than you are.
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Theresa Villiers: she says her failure to declare £70,000 worth of shares in Shell was an “oversight”. Was it really, though? What else has she failed to share?
This is shocking: when she was the government member charged with caring for our environment, Theresa Villiers had £70,000 worth of shares in mass-polluter Shell oil.
She is the MP for Chipping Barnet, where constituents should be outraged that she has been working for the enrichment of that firm (and therefore increased profits for herself) rather than in their interests.
That firm recently announced profits of $5 billion (US), which is admittedly down from the £7.7 billion (UK) it made in the first quarter of 2023. Of that, £6 billion found its way into the bank accounts of shareholders like Ms Villiers.
Shell stock is currently worth around £24 – higher than the £19.41 when Ms Villiers left office as Environment Secretary, so she’s making a bit of a killing.
She says her failure to declare this enormous conflict of interest was an oversight that won’t happen again:
Anna Jones – Theresa Villiers(Tory MP) owned £70k worth of shares in Shell when she was environment secretary, that wasn't declared for 5 years… what do you make of that?
The only reason it won’t happen again is that she has been caught red-handed and knows she can’t hide this any more.
What else has she been hiding, though?
It seems clear that there is only one way to keep this woman from lying – call it what it is – about business interests that create conflicts with her duty to the nation.
That is to ensure that she cannot have a job in which such conflicts arise.
If Ms Villiers is more interested in making money for herself than in safeguarding the interests and well-being of the United Kingdom as a whole, then she should be forced back into the private sector.
No doubt she’ll quickly find work with a firm that has profited from UK government policy.
She might do well by sending her CV to Shell.
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Number of people waiting long periods for PIP claim result has plummeted
The number of disabled people waiting longer than six months to be told whether they have been successful in their claim for a key disability benefit has plummeted over the last year, new figures have shown. https://t.co/JTU40FEfCz
— Disability News Service (@johnpringdns) July 8, 2023
The number waiting longer than six months has dropped from more than 20,000 to just 300 within 12 months, and the DWP says it has halved the time it takes in acting on a claim.
But how many claims are the DWP processing now, in comparison to 12 months ago? What is the figure as a proportion of all claims received? And – more to the point – how many are successful?
Ofgem asks energy suppliers to publish all their tariffs, so customers know what deals are worthwhile
Pleased to say, after my letter to @ofgem asking it to ensure all energy firms publish all tariffs (even existing customer only tariffs) for transparency & scrutiny, its now asked them to do so. Hopefully it works, if not we'll push for rule change. See https://t.co/bZ2bpr3gvA
Scam adverts: the government has STILL enacted no laws to protect you against them
It's 6yrs since we started seeing mass proliferation of scam ads 5yrs since I sued Facebook. 4yrs since they settled (for £3m to charity). 4yrs since the online harms white paper (still not law) 18mth since they agreed to inc scams in it. 1 day since first deep fake scam ad…
Are doctors in Scotland well-advised to suspend strikes after pay offer of 17.5% over two years?
Doctors in Scotland have suspended strikes following a revised pay deal
BMA Scotland said it would recommend its members accept a pay increase of 17.5% over two years. They had been poised to walk out for three days next week
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) July 8, 2023
It may seem a lot but doctors in Scotland have only suspended their strike action for a pay deal of 8.75 per cent per year – that’s still less than the current rate of inflation and therefore a pay cut.
But it is more than junior doctors have been offered by Health Secretary Steve Barclay – whose own pay packet has not been reduced by inflation.
Meanwhile, teachers are being told their own job is a “vocation” – meaning it is especially worthy of dedication – and they should be happy with £27,000 a year, by Heather Wheeler. Take a look at this point:
Teaching isn't a vocation any more its the recommendation once you get a degree in any subject – "you can go & teach now" – unqualified, no teacher training – no wonder they quit after a couple of years. https://t.co/F8PV3cAHpt
There is no degree in being a member of Parliament, and most of the degrees in politics don’t seem to be worth the paper they’re written on (look at the havoc wreaked on the nation by graduates of Oxford’s Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) course). It is a career for which there is no qualification and cannot be described as a vocation – but Heather Wheeler draws down a salary of £82,000 a year, plus expenses.
And it is important to remember that teachers aren’t just striking to get better pay for themselves. Government spending on education suffered its longest-ever decline under the Tory governments between 2011 and 2019, and teachers are striking to ensure that education as a whole is properly funded:
In yesterday’s debate in Parliament on education I tried to bring sense of reality explaining what’s happened to education spending since 2010 & why teachers were striking & marching outside not just for fair pay but also proper funding for schools. Solidarity to @NEUnion pic.twitter.com/uKmwUdt6G9
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) July 6, 2023
And the Tory arguments that pay increases would raise the rate of inflation have already been proved false.
So there is no good reason for refusing to pay doctors, teachers and other striking workers what they are due – which would bring them to parity – in real terms – with their pay in 2010. And there’s no good reason for refusing to properly fund education and the NHS either; taxation is currently at its highest in something like 70 or 80 years, which should mean public money is available for such projects. What have the Tories done with it?
All of the above supports the following short clip, making an important point that should be remembered by everyone who complains about strikes:
Did Jeremy Corbyn grab Israel Advocacy member – as he claims – or was the MP the one who was assaulted?
From this "Israel Advocacy Movement" video, it looks very much like (despite false claims to the contrary in the voiceover) their YouTuber Joseph Cohen assaulted @jeremycorbyn at the Palestine demo yesterday.
Here’s video footage of what happened. The context note beneath it clarifies exactly what really did happen. Reggie D Hunter’s comment is pertinent too:
I respect Jeremy Corbyn but if he physically overpowered me in any way, I would go somewhere and eat a bowl steroids https://t.co/IPQiQzvYNZ
— Reginald D Hunter (@reginalddhunter) July 7, 2023
These aggressively Zionist, pro-Israel goons think they can do whatever they like and then lie about it when we can see what’s really happening via their own recordings.
Remember that, next time one of them makes a wild accusation.
Most train ticket offices in England to be shut within three years, no matter how many people it disadvantages
Most train ticket offices in England to shut within 3 yrs.
Companies got £13.3bn subsidy last yr.
They chase profits. No concern about passengers – no guards, ticket office, advice, security
From a friend who works in a station ticket office. This is why staffing CANNOT be cut.
“Just this afternoon during our shift changeover a lady knocked on our ticket office window asking for help. She is partially sighted and cannot use the ticket machines. I went straight out…
— Simon Harris – Man Behaving Dadly (THAT’S DADLY) (@simonharris_mbd) July 7, 2023
Does anybody remember a piece of law called the Disability Discrimination Act? Did it not make provision for a situation like this?
If not, is it time that Act was amended?
Jeremy Hunt to appear on Martin Lewis ITV show about mortgages – and you can help grill him
NEWS: I'm pleased to say the Chancellor @Jeremy_Hunt's agreed to join me for my emergency Mortgage Special @itvmlshow 8pm Tue. If uv questions to suggest for me to put to him, especially based on ur circumstances (remember it's a practical not political show) pls reply with them.
Tin-eared airport bosses want to increase pollution there by 60% amid public fury over environmental harm
At a time when it is vital that people fly less often London’s Gatwick airport submits plans to increase capacity by 60%. Are people really that indifferent to the fate of our life on this planet? https://t.co/JTIyp5nVBN
Minister for disabled people refuses to discuss his disability action plan with them
The minister for disabled people has been criticised by one of his own MPs for failing to consult properly with disabled people’s organisations over his forthcoming disability action plan. https://t.co/tQJ1uttGZ1
— Disability News Service (@johnpringdns) July 7, 2023
Perhaps Tom Pursglove doesn’t want disabled people to object to the plan to close railway ticket offices?
Perhaps there are a multitude of other omissions in his plan that he doesn’t want to allow under the spotlight until it has been rubber-stamped?
Whatever the excuse, this is unacceptable behaviour from any government. Nobody’s life should be changed by the government if they haven’t had a chance to participate in the process.
“Nothing about us without us,” remember?
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Zac Goldsmith: apparently he owes his peerage to Boris Johnson.
There’s almost as much murk in this as in a glass of drinking water from Thames Water.*
Lord Zac Goldsmith has resigned from his job as an environment minister, just one day after he was named by the House of Commons Privileges Committee as having tried to interfere with its determination on Boris Johnson and Partygate.
BREAKING Super rich @ZacGoldsmith (made Lord & Tory minister by Johnson) has RESIGNED as Privileges Committee named him!
Remember him last wk claiming I was not nice to his mate Ben Mallet (the recent Partygate lad in braces)
But his reason for resigning, if you read the article, is the Tory government’s failure to tackle climate change properly. He says prime minister Rishi Sunak is “simply uninterested” in the issue.
(And he has repeated this assertion – strenuously – after Sunak claimed the resignation came after he had asked Goldsmith to apologise for the apparent interference. He reckons his resignation had been coming for a long time – but that raises one obvious question: why submit it the day after being accused by the Privileges Committee if that had nothing to do with it?)
But who cares about Goldsmith? He’s yesterday’s man now.
What matters is, nine other MPs and peers have also been accused by the Privileges Committee:
Morning all BREAKING
"Privileges committee accuses 7 Tory MPs and 3 peers of trying to interfere with its Johnson inquiry"
Every single one of them has benefited from being a close "friend" of Boris Johnson
The Privileges Committee has named a series of Tory MPs and lords – Nadine Dorries, Lord Goldsmith, Mark Jenkinson, Michael Fabricant, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Andrea Jenkyns, Priti Patel, Lord Cruddas and Lord Greenhalgh – as engaging in a campaign to undermine its…
The Privileges Committee has published the evidence on which it has based its claim:
Given all of the above, one has only one question left to ask:
What are the other nine named MPs and peers going to do?
*Joke. I don’t honestly think the quality of Thames Water’s product is quite so bad… yet.
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Tory Environment Secretary Therese Coffey – the one who has colluded in the sewage pollution of the UK’s waterways to help the water firms make massive profits – is at it again.
She’s apparently now colluding with landowners to take away from us 41,000 miles of unrecorded rights of way.
It’s a new Enclosure Act for the 21st century, isn’t it?
Here’s Damo to explain:
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There is massive misinformation by Therese Coffey here. Water is getting worse. 93% is not good, as she claims. Only 14% is good according to her own departmental statistics. And £56bn is not enough to tackle this. £260bn is required. Why is she lying about this? https://t.co/Xq2XK4tK1R
Speaking at the launch of the government’s Plan for Water, Ms Coffey said the River Don in Yorkshire will never be given a high status without dismantling half of Sheffield.
“Achieving the gold standard for ecological status would mean taking us back to the natural state of our rivers from the year 1840,” Ms Coffey said.
“That’s neither practical nor indeed desirable in the circumstances. We’re not going to take London back to before the embankment was built or remove the Thames Barrier and, indeed, we’ll need another before the end of the century.
“And no one is contemplating dismantling half of Sheffield to let the River Don run free, but without that it will never be scored as being excellent, even though salmon have returned to that part of the River Don for the first time in two years.”
Feargal had a few things to say about that:
He said: “She’s conflating what was a government attempt to circumnavigate a legal deadline of 2027 and the natural state – which is a completely meaningless idea – with the idea that these rivers can’t achieve good ecological status, which they can.
“Even though it’s running through the centre of the city, there’s no reason to stop it from having a wide abundance of fish and flora and fauna, bugs and weeds can be a healthy ecosystem.”
And
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “No one is calling for the dismantling of towns and cities but we are demanding an end to the grotesque pollution entering our lakes, rivers and seas.
“Attempts to continue business as usual, allowing polluters to poison rivers and stripping back environmental protections, would be a disaster for nature and future generations.”
That’s the problem in a nutshell: the Tories have reversed the progress on water quality by allowing the privatised water firms to flood our waterways with sewage in the name of financial profit.
The solution isn’t hard. We don’t have to turn the clock back to 1840 – just to before the privatisation of the UK’s water providers.
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Tory protest ban: Priti Patel used to be the Home Secretary and she’s the one who first decided to impose heavy curbs on how protest could happen.
Hostility towards campaigners and charities that has led to a new law clamping down on protest has caused the UK to be downgraded in an international index of civic freedoms.
Here’s The Guardian:
The UK has been downgraded in an annual global index of civic freedoms as a result of the government’s “increasingly authoritarian” drive to impose restrictive and punitive laws on public protests.
The Civicus Monitor, which tracks the democratic and civic health of 197 countries across the world, said the UK government was creating a “hostile environment” towards campaigners, charities and other civil society bodies.
The UK’s willingness to clamp down on civic freedoms such as the right to peaceful assembly means it is now classified as “obstructed” – putting it alongside countries such as Poland, South Africa and Hungary.
“The downgrade reflects the worrying trends we are seeing in restrictions across civil society that are threatening our democracy. The government should be setting a positive example to countries that have clamped down on civic space,” said Stephanie Draper, the chief executive of the Bond charity, a partner in the Civicus collaboration.
She added: “The UK is becoming increasingly authoritarian and is among concerning company in the Civicus Monitor ratings as restrictive laws and dangerous rhetoric are creating a hostile environment towards civil society in the UK.”
Has anybody told Suella Braverman, who’s currently on a propaganda junket in Rwanda?
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Rivers of Sh*t: partially-cleaned and harmful crap is going directly into our rivers. The former head of bankrupt corporation Carillion, now in charge of the Environment Agency, wants to go easy on the companies doing it. Why is that, do you think?
Read this, and we’ll have a word about it down below:
The Environment Agency should not be issuing penalties of £250 million to water companies who dump sewage, its chairman has said.
Speaking to Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Alan Lovell said penalties of £10-20 million would be more appropriate, and stressed there was a difference between an EA penalty and a court fine.
Last month, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey was criticised for reportedly backing down on plans to increase penalties to £250 million.
According to Feargal Sharkey (yes, that Feargal Sharkey): “Before becoming chairman of the EA Alan Lovell was a NED [Non-Executive Director] at Carillion, largest ever corporate bankruptcy in British history leaving £7 billion in debts.
Considering that, ask yourself: why would he say what he did about penalties for privatised water companies?
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“Blatantly Backing Conservatives”: the malady seems to have spread from BBC news and is now affecting all its departments. But can the Corporation bow to public demand and restore its tattered claim to impartiality?
Who would have thought that one little tweet would rock the world’s biggest public service broadcaster to its foundations?
That’s what Gary Lineker seems to have done with this message:
He was referring, of course, to the language used by Suella Braverman when she introduced her silly Illegal Migration Bill to Parliament last week – and he was right.
Subsequently, we learned that the measures in the Bill, and the language around it, would be more appropriately compared to the UK’s own treatment of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s – politicians of that time sent more than half a million back to Europe where an unknown number ended up being killed in extermination camps as part of the Holocaust.
Everybody should think very hard about that – and about the way politicians in both the Conservative Party and Labour condemned Mr Lineker and denied that the current Bill, or the way it was described, bore any resemblance to what happened in the 1930s.
The BBC reacted to Tory pressure the way it usually does – it caved in.
Mr Lineker was removed from his position as host of Match of the Day – and the Corporation lied about the circumstances. First we were told he was “stepping back” voluntarily until he could reach an agreement with the BBC over how he conducts himself on a social media account that is nothing to do with his employment and over which his employers should have no influence at all. Then we found out that he had been forced out.
And then the effluent hit the air conditioner.
Mr Lineker’s co-presenters on MOTD walked out in solidarity with him and everyone asked to be a possible stand-in host refused on principle.
Now, we are learning that sports coverage at the Beeb is suffering even more:
Presenters, pundits, commentators, players and another BBC football shows pulled….am sure no-one at BBC had any idea the decision to take Lineker off air would escalate as quickly or dramatically like this. And when crises do blow up like this, climb-downs become even harder…. https://t.co/BfyD9wHkwG
And the backlash has spread into other parts of the BBC.
Question Time, which actually discussed both the Illegal Migration Bill and Mr Lineker’s tweet about it, has come under fire after host Fiona Bruce played down the significance of Stanley Johnson beating his wife, in a discussion of his son Boris’s nomination of that man for a knighthood.
Here’s what she said (with apologies for the strong language used by the person tweeting it):
The charity Refuge, which supports women and children who are victims of domestic abuse – and for whom Ms Bruce is an ambassador, made its position abundantly clear:
“Domestic abuse is never a ‘one off’, it is a pattern of behaviour that can manifest in a number of ways, including physical abuse. Domestic abuse is never acceptable.”
In a parallel with the BBC’s treatment of Mr Lineker, the charity said it had also been in talks with Ms Bruce: “She is appalled that any of her words have been understood as her minimising domestic violence. We know she is deeply upset that this has been triggering for survivors.
“Like the host of any BBC programme, when serious on-air allegations are made about someone, Fiona is obliged to put forward a right of reply from that person or their representatives, and that was what happened last night. These are not in any way Fiona’s own views about the situation.
“Fiona is deeply sorry that last night’s programme has distressed survivors of domestic abuse. Refuge stands by her and all survivors today.”
Sadly, the BBC did not see fit to support the charity’s assertion that Ms Bruce was “appalled” and “deeply sorry” for “triggering” and having “distressed” survivors.
Instead, it merely defended what happened on the programme: “When serious allegations are made on air against people or organisations, it is the job of BBC presenters to ensure that the context of those allegations – and any right of reply from the person or organisation – is given to the audience, and this is what Fiona Bruce was doing last night. She was not expressing any personal opinion about the situation.”
Not good enough.
A BBC decision not to broadcast an episode of Sir David Attenborough’s new series Wild Isles for fear that its its themes of the destruction of nature would risk a backlash from Tory politicians and the right wing press has provoked a huge backlash – not just from environmental groups but, again, from within the Corporation itself.
The sixth episode will appear only on BBC iPlayer. All six episodes were narrated by Attenborough, and made by the production company Silverback Films, which was responsible for previous series including Our Planet.
Chris Packham, presenter of Springwatch, told The Guardian: “At this time, in our fight to save the world’s biodiversity, it is irresponsible not to put that at the forefront of wildlife broadcasting.”
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said: “For the BBC to censor of one of the nation’s most informed and trusted voices on the nature and climate emergencies is nothing short of an unforgivable dereliction of its duty to public service broadcasting. This government has taken a wrecking ball to our environment – putting over 1,700 pieces of environmental legislation at risk, setting an air pollution target which is a decade too late, and neglecting the scandal of our sewage-filled waterways – which cannot go unexamined and unchallenged by the public.”
The Guardian added that “senior sources at the BBC [said] that the decision not to show the sixth episode was made to fend off potential critique from the political right.
Again, the BBC’s response was cowardly. The broadcaster claimed the six-part series was only ever intended to have five episodes: “Wild Isles is – and always was – a five part series and does not shy away from environmental content. We have acquired a separate film for iPlayer from the RSPB and WWF and Silverback Films about people working to preserve and restore the biodiversity of the British Isles.”
If this sixth film is part of a package of such films – a series, if you will – all made by the same organisations and narrated by the same person, and all to be available together on iPlayer, then it seems clear that it is an episode of that series and the BBC is again being economical with the truth.
This behaviour – and the decision over Mr Lineker – drew the following comment from economist Richard Murphy;
So, this afternoon the BBC gives in to fascists over Gary Lineker’s support for asylum seekers and on David Attenborough’s desire to highlight the impact of climate change. Fascism isn’t a threat. It is happening here and now, with the BBC enabling it.
Finally (for now), the BBC has faced a backlash against its continued employment of Lord Sugar on The Apprentice, whose own political tweets – particularly attacking former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – have gone unquestioned by the Corporation.
Mr Corbyn found an unlikely defender – on a BBC news programme – in Alastair Campbell. And the former New Labour press secretary didn’t pull his punches when referring to any of the scandals mentioned above:
Finally some honesty about the disgusting treatment Jeremy Corbyn received from figures at the BBC. And it’s coming from…Alistair Campbell. pic.twitter.com/sBhNOMFrIL
I’m aware that Campbell himself is a controversial figure but he’s absolutely right here.
The BBC is in serious trouble over these politically-motivated decisions. Its claim of political impartiality lies in tatters.
The only way out is to apologise and reform.
But, as Beth Rigby stated above, when crises blow up like this, climbdowns become very hard to do.
What next?
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