crispeduk 282 Posted May 18, 2023 Right, so the water companies give our money away, t - u - r - d up our rivers, then say we're going to have to pay them again to clean up their own mess? And the regulator's going to let them get away with it? Ok. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herman 9,780 Posted May 19, 2023 It's ok. It was bad back in the day so we should just get used to it now.👍 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted May 19, 2023 3 hours ago, Herman said: It's ok. It was bad back in the day so we should just get used to it now.👍 Tom Peck is as vicious as ever on the subject. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/sewage-sea-water-uk-apology-b2341485.html 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Creative Midfielder 1,998 Posted May 19, 2023 12 hours ago, crispeduk said: Right, so the water companies give our money away, t - u - r - d up our rivers, then say we're going to have to pay them again to clean up their own mess? And the regulator's going to let them get away with it? Ok. Hopefully the regulator isn't going to let them get away with it this time, although based on the regulator's track record thus far.........🙄 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crispeduk 282 Posted May 20, 2023 On 19/05/2023 at 10:20, sonyc said: Tom Peck is as vicious as ever on the subject. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/sewage-sea-water-uk-apology-b2341485.html Think I was more pithy though 🙂🙂 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted May 20, 2023 1 minute ago, crispeduk said: Think I was more pithy though 🙂🙂 I did think t-u-r-d-s was rather good. Did you see this today? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/20/revealed-warning-to-ministers-over-privatised-water-kept-secret-since-2002? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crispeduk 282 Posted May 20, 2023 14 minutes ago, sonyc said: Did you see this today? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/20/revealed-warning-to-ministers-over-privatised-water-kept-secret-since-2002? Had missed it - so thanks for that. Won't miss any follow-up though as I'll use the water direct debit showing on our bank statement as a reminder to check for news of the warning being made public. Think it might be a long wait though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yellow Fever 3,793 Posted May 24, 2023 I really do think Sunak's government now regrets they didn't spend more on sewerage earlier. Johnson and Braverman are truly unflushable. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crispeduk 282 Posted January 8 (edited) On 20/05/2023 at 12:20, sonyc said: I did think t-u-r-d-s was rather good. Did you see this today? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/20/revealed-warning-to-ministers-over-privatised-water-kept-secret-since-2002? On 20/05/2023 at 12:41, crispeduk said: Had missed it - so thanks for that. Won't miss any follow-up though as I'll use the water direct debit showing on our bank statement as a reminder to check for news of the warning being made public. Think it might be a long wait though. Just a reminder from the end of the article: Asked by the Guardian why the Goodall report and the full investigation it was part of had not been released under the 20-year rule, the CMA said: “As the statement is now over 20 years old, it has been reviewed by our records management team in line with the above process … however, there are a significant amount of documents which make up this matter which are yet to be reviewed. Further, the CMA, consistent with normal processes, will transfer these records with other records which have reached the 20-year mark and which have also been selected for transfer. This process will be completed over the course of this year.” That was in May - genuine question, has anyone noticed any news of an outcome over the course of last year, or are the chaps now all too busy electioneering to get on their case? Apologies if once again I just missed it. Edited January 8 by crispeduk Correcting month of Guardian report 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted January 8 (edited) 23 minutes ago, crispeduk said: Just a reminder from the end of the article: Asked by the Guardian why the Goodall report and the full investigation it was part of had not been released under the 20-year rule, the CMA said: “As the statement is now over 20 years old, it has been reviewed by our records management team in line with the above process … however, there are a significant amount of documents which make up this matter which are yet to be reviewed. Further, the CMA, consistent with normal processes, will transfer these records with other records which have reached the 20-year mark and which have also been selected for transfer. This process will be completed over the course of this year.” That was in May - genuine question, has anyone noticed any news of an outcome over the course of last year, or are the chaps now all too busy electioneering to get on their case? Apologies if once again I just missed it. I've not seen anything ...apart from this one article back in June '23. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/why-are-our-current-systems-of-governance-failing/ Suggest it is not buried but rather lost in a morass of other stuff going on. At some stage in the next year or two I have no doubt that water privatisation will become a much bigger political issue. In the meantime we will just have to hope the likes of Feargal Sharkey & Paul Whitehouse continue to fight and use their influence. Edited January 8 by sonyc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted January 10 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/10/conservative-failures-have-led-to-more-sewage-pollution-say-water-experts? A call for an independent inquiry for the next government (because there's literally no point expecting the current one to do anything). A bit of a shocking read and given what a journalist has achieved in the Horizon scandal surely this also a huge story and of major national significance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock The Boat 1,332 Posted January 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, sonyc said: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/10/conservative-failures-have-led-to-more-sewage-pollution-say-water-experts? A call for an independent inquiry for the next government (because there's literally no point expecting the current one to do anything). A bit of a shocking read and given what a journalist has achieved in the Horizon scandal surely this also a huge story and of major national significance. Perhaps the Horizon scandal will demonstrate to people that neither changing the government nor nationalising the industry will make an iota of difference to river pollution because the same type of people will still be in charge. And they will continue to receive gongs and honours despite their wrong doing. The only way to get change is to put a few in jail. Good luck with that. Edited January 10 by Rock The Boat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nevermind, neoliberalism has had it 159 Posted January 10 I will start filtering the water that falls on to my roof and use it as I see fit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted March 28 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2024/mar/27/englands-sewage-crisis-how-polluted-is-your-local-river-and-which-regions-are-worst-hit? Type in your postcode and then you can see exactly where each sewerage outage takes place. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fen Canary 834 Posted March 28 9 minutes ago, sonyc said: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2024/mar/27/englands-sewage-crisis-how-polluted-is-your-local-river-and-which-regions-are-worst-hit? Type in your postcode and then you can see exactly where each sewerage outage takes place. Isn’t privatisation wonderful! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted March 28 4 minutes ago, Fen Canary said: Isn’t privatisation wonderful! Ah...but they have a plan! ....By 2030 something. I read that Thames Water are in trouble this morning. I really hope this issue is tackled (by a government) in the next 5 years. It is one of the most basic requirements of society. To poison your own rivers and seas? It's just incredible. Huge respect for the few individuals who are constantly monitoring the levels and trying to pressure the water companies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fen Canary 834 Posted March 28 15 minutes ago, sonyc said: Ah...but they have a plan! ....By 2030 something. I read that Thames Water are in trouble this morning. I really hope this issue is tackled (by a government) in the next 5 years. It is one of the most basic requirements of society. To poison your own rivers and seas? It's just incredible. Huge respect for the few individuals who are constantly monitoring the levels and trying to pressure the water companies. Won’t happen. Both parties seem to follow the Blair line of “there is no alternative”, even though there obviously is Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yellow Fever 3,793 Posted March 28 Thames. Let them fail - wipe out the shareholders. They treated it like a normal company and cash cow. May cause some difficulties for the shareholders (pension schemes) but at least it will put the fear of God into the other water companies and utilities. The tax payer will not bail you out. Should be a salutory lesson to all and a hard lesson about the failure of the ideological driven privatizations of the natural monopolies like rail too. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A Load of Squit 5,173 Posted March 28 This year the crews will be wear light blue and dark blue hazmat suits and the new traditional of hosing down with the cox with disinfectant will be introduced. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/27/a-national-disgrace-oxford-rail-at-river-thames-pollution-ahead-of-boat-race ‘A national disgrace’: Oxford rail at River Thames pollution ahead of Boat Race Oxford’s rowing coach critical after high levels of E coli detected Race organisers have warned rowers against entering water 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted March 30 (edited) Some more analysis this evening. Worrying trend but maybe not unexpected given the news over the last few years. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/29/hospital-admissions-for-waterborne-diseases-in-england-up-60-report-shows? Extract.... Alastair Chisholm, director of policy at the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, said: “Our research shows 86% of the public want water reformed under the next government. Our river crisis is not only impacting the health of nature, but it’s making people sick too. That has to change. We need urgent reform.” Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “Pollution and nature loss are a public health disaster. Billions could be saved every year for the NHS by cleaning up filthy rivers, curbing air pollution and bringing nature back to life. All parties should make big polluters pay and ensure water companies invest in nature recovery for the sake of public health.” Richard Walker, businessman and former Chair of Surfers Against Sewage, who was a Tory donor before switching in January to support Labour, said: “The way the Tories have allowed our coasts, rivers, and streams to become engorged with excrement is the perfect metaphor for the way they’ve treated the country these past 14 years. Labour’s plan will take the tough action required to get our vital utilities back to serving the public interest. Edited March 30 by sonyc 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted March 31 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/12/surrey-horley-sewage-works-thames-water? “When it rains, not only does raw sewage pour into the river via the storm overflows, but the sewage overtops the storm tanks and flows on to the public footpath,” said Keith Barlow, the chair of the Westvale Park residents’ association. “Sewage floods over the footpath and into the recreation area where people walk with their children and dogs. I have seen solid waste floating past through the perimeter fence.” The situation in Horley is in some respects a metaphor for what is taking place at Thames Water itself. The biggest privatised water company in England is straining financially with debts of £14.7bn, struggling to shore up infrastructure crumbling from decades 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxy2600 301 Posted April 2 Wonder who or what is making all this sewage? Over 70% of the water industry is foreign owned. Most infrastructure dates from 1946 - 1966. (Main Drainage etc.) Over 70m people to cope with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonyc 5,529 Posted April 2 Extract from The Times .... How privatisation went wrong The dire financial plight of Thames Water is merely the latest evidence of an obvious truth, says Libby Purves in The Times: privatising essential services is a “dead 1980s dream, fit to join Joan Collins’s Dynasty shoulder pads in the dustbin of history”. When Margaret Thatcher entered office in 1979, there was some logic to selling the likes of steel, aerospace and shipbuilding back into private hands. Even some on the left could see the value of replacing “weary jobsworth managements” with “go-getting business-like dynamism”. But more critical services soon went the same way: power, railways, water supply, sewerage. By 1990, more than 40 state-owned firms had been sold, often at knock-down rates. Apart from perhaps BT, few of these privatisations have been a success. Ofgem has had to fix power prices and bail out failed companies; the rail industry is a shambles; “and let’s not start on the Post Office”. Other countries were much more cautious: Ireland’s mail, rail, buses and water have stayed public, along with Denmark’s national grid, France’s postal service and Switzerland’s “immaculate” railway system. Strikingly, almost no one else has “entrusted clean water to private profit”. The reason is so obvious it’s barely worth stating: in the absence of decent competition or effective regulation, private companies will alway prioritise their shareholders over the public. Of course, the Tories will be loath to undo “St Margaret’s legacy”. But with Thames Water, they need to bite the bullet: let it fail, “pick up the assets dead cheap and run it properly”. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheGunnShow 5,940 Posted April 6 8 hours ago, Herman said: Sums it up. See Donald Trump bankrupting a casino for details. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
