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Thames Water impending collapse is ultimate result of privatisation, say campaigners

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-impending-collapse-ultimate-result-privatisation-say-campaigners

A tanker pumps out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire, January 10, 2024

THAMES WATER’S impending collapse is the ultimate result of privatising an essential monopoly like water, campaigners said today..

The government is reportedly approaching potential administrators to step in if the troubled utility falls into bankruptcy.

The water giant is struggling under a debt of £19 billion and has warned that it will run out of cash in March unless the High Court signs off a £3bn loan at a hearing next month.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed ruled out nationalisation in October.

But officials have told the Financial Times that the government has spoken to consultancies including Teneo and Interpath to potentially run a special administration regime (SAR) — a temporary measure designed to keep services running.

The measure could be a sign that ministers are bracing themselves for the renationalisation of the company as the court could block the loan agreement due to a high interest rate of 9.75 per cent alongside fees and incentives of the current Thames Water management.

Last month, regulator Ofwat fined the company £18.2 million for paying £158.3m in dividends to shareholders which it said were not justified.
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|Continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-impending-collapse-ultimate-result-privatisation-say-campaigners

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Greens respond to possible airport expansions

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Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Siân Berry. Image by Kelly Hill, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0.
Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Siân Berry. Image by Kelly Hill, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0.

Responding to the news that Rachel Reeves is expected to give the go-ahead to a series of airport expansions across the UK, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Sian Berry, said:

“We must ask who these decisions would be made for and why. Whose advice is the Government listening to, when record-high wealth inequality is causing harm to the economy and society in many different ways, while frequent flying is the preserve of the super-rich?

“The aviation lobby is loud and well-funded, but the Government should instead be listening to scientists and its own Climate Change Committee, which has already urged a halt to overall airport expansion. The previous Labour government’s poor record on airport expansion doesn’t have to continue.

“If Ed Miliband is serious in his role as Net-Zero Minister, he will work to prevent the Chancellor and Transport Secretaries making a huge mistake, and advise the Chancellor to not make any dangerous new decisions until they have heard and listened to the new advice from the Climate Change Committee which is due in February.”

Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Continue ReadingGreens respond to possible airport expansions

Labour MPs ordered to sink landmark climate and environment bill

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/23/labour-mps-ordered-to-sink-landmark-climate-and-environment-bill

Climate campaigners, MPs, and ex-Olympians held a boat race along the Thames earlier this month to promote the bill. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Getty Images

Guardian Exclusive: Supporters of bill say Labour has already insisted on removal of clauses requiring UK to meet targets agreed at Cop and other summits

A landmark bill that would make the UK’s climate and environment targets legally binding seems doomed after government whips ordered Labour MPs to oppose it following a breakdown in negotiations.

Supporters of the climate and nature bill, introduced by the Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage, say Labour insisted on the removal of clauses that would require the UK to meet the targets it agreed to at Cop and other international summits.

Although it is a private member’s bill, more than 80 Labour MPs, including several ministers, had publicly signed up to support it.

Some Labour MPs have been ordered to attend the bill’s second reading on Friday morning and to prepare speeches, to deliberately make it run out of time and avoid a vote. Another possibility would be a three-line whip to vote against the bill, leaving any rebels at risk of disciplinary action, including losing the party whip.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/23/labour-mps-ordered-to-sink-landmark-climate-and-environment-bill

Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Continue ReadingLabour MPs ordered to sink landmark climate and environment bill

Unpaid internships ‘locking out’ young working-class people from careers

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/23/unpaid-internships-young-working-class-people-careers

Unpaid or under-paid internships persist in spite of law changes since 2018, making up 61% of those on offer. Photograph: OJO Images/Rex Features

UK charity calls for positions of four weeks or longer to be banned to help close social mobility gap

Young people from working-class or disadvantaged backgrounds are being “locked out” of careers by unpaid or low-paid internships that benefit middle-class graduates, according to a social mobility charity.

Research by the Sutton Trust found that middle-class graduates made more use of internships as stepping stones into sectors such as finance or IT, even in cases where the internships paid nothing or below the minimum wage as required by legislation.

Nick Harrison, the chief executive of the Sutton Trust, said: “Internships are an increasingly critical route into the best jobs, and it’s shocking that in this day and age, many employers still pay interns below the minimum wage, or worse, nothing at all. They should be ashamed.

“The government has pledged to ban unpaid internships, which is absolutely the right thing to do. Clearly not all young people can get support from the ‘bank of Mum and Dad’, so banning this outdated practice will help to level the playing field for these valuable opportunities. It’s a no-brainer and should be implemented without delay.”

A survey of 1,200 recent graduates commissioned by the trust revealed that 55% of middle-class young people had undertaken internships, compared with just 36% from working-class families – and that the gap between the two groups had widened “substantially” since its previous survey in 2018, from 12 to 19 percentage points.

Unpaid or underpaid internships had persisted in spite of law changes since 2018, making up 61% of those on offer and forcing interns to “subsidise themselves during their placements, which locks many of those who can’t afford it out of these vital opportunities”, the trust said.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the government’s position “will be set out at second reading”.

Nature and climate charities have urged ministers to adopt Savage’s bill, saying it would introduce vital concrete steps to tackle nature depletion and the climate crisis.

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/23/unpaid-internships-young-working-class-people-careers

Continue ReadingUnpaid internships ‘locking out’ young working-class people from careers