Keir Starmer

Thames Water ‘rewarded for years of mismanagement’ with £3bn emergency loan

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-rewarded-for-years-of-mismanagement-with-ps3bn-emergency-loan

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

Customers will bear brunt of sky-high interest rates though increased bills, campaigners warn

THAMES WATER’S £3 billion bailout was approved by the High Court today, triggering outrage as campaigners warned of higher bills from sky-high interest payments.

The High Court cleared the loan just weeks before the debt-laden firm was due to run out of money, temporarily staving off the possibility of special administration and temporary nationalisation.

Former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher wrote off the debts of Britain’s water firms when the industry was privatised in 1989.

But Thames Water, which serves 16 million customers, has since siphoned off £7.2bn in dividends, while amassing £19bn worth of debt.

In his judgment, Justice Leech noted that the headline interest rate on the emergency loan, which stands at 9.75 per cent was “very, very high.”

The Financial Times reported that the bailout could incur as much as £800 million in interest and fees.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-rewarded-for-years-of-mismanagement-with-ps3bn-emergency-loan

Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the "hard times".
Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the “hard times”.
Continue ReadingThames Water ‘rewarded for years of mismanagement’ with £3bn emergency loan

Government and NHS boss ‘rewriting history’ on disastrous PFI

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/government-and-nhs-boss-rewriting-history-on-disastrous-pfi

Health Secretary Wes Streeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not seen) during a visit to Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Epsom, Surrey, January 6, 2025

BACKING private finance in the NHS should be a red line for any health secretary, campaigners charged today.

NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last week that the government should “consider” using private capital to fix the NHS’s crumbling infrastructure.

Today, Health Secretary Wes Streeting faced questions on the same programme about a potential return to failed private-finance initiative (PFI) schemes, in which private firms built hospitals and high-interest repayments were made over the long term.

Mr Streeting said that he does not pretend there are not “enormous challenges” because of NHS capital shortfall, and is “very sympathetic to the argument that we should try and leverage in private finance.”

But he admitted that many of the PFI deals “did lumber the NHS with an enormous cost that it continues to bear.”

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Johnbosco Nwogbo, of campaign group We Own It, said: “Support for more private finance in our NHS should disqualify you from being health secretary.

“Many NHS trusts are still spending more on PFI debts than on medicines for patients.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/government-and-nhs-boss-rewriting-history-on-disastrous-pfi

Continue ReadingGovernment and NHS boss ‘rewriting history’ on disastrous PFI

Fossil fuel industry accused of seeking special treatment over oilfield emissions

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/18/fossil-fuel-industry-accused-of-seeking-special-treatment-over-oilfield-emissions

Protests against the Rosebank oilfield in Edinburgh in 2024. Labour pledged in its manifesto to halt new North Sea licensing, but Rosebank was awaiting final approval when the party won the general election. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Lobbyists argued it was unfair for their industry to be treated the same as others as end product – oil and gas – inevitably produced emissions

Experts have accused the fossil fuel industry of seeking special treatment after lobbyists argued greenhouse gas emissions from oilfields should be treated differently to those from other industries.

The government is embroiled in a row over whether to allow a massive new oilfield, Rosebank, to go ahead, with some cabinet members arguing it could boost growth and others concerned it could make the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 impossible to reach. Labour made a manifesto commitment to halt new North Sea licensing, but Rosebank and some other projects had already been licensed and were awaiting final approval when the party won the general election.

Documents seen by the Guardian show the industry group Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) asking for Rosebank and other oilfields’ “scope three emissions” – those caused by the burning of extracted oil and gas – to be treated differently because that was the point of their business.

A court case recently found the licence granted to Rosebank by the previous government was unlawful as it failed to take these emissions into account.

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I am only able to quote a small section of this copyrighted article. See the original article at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/18/fossil-fuel-industry-accused-of-seeking-special-treatment-over-oilfield-emissions

Orcas are pleased that Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields are blocked.
Orcas are pleased that Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields are blocked.

Continue ReadingFossil fuel industry accused of seeking special treatment over oilfield emissions

Starmer’s latest con job

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/starmer’s-latest-con-job

SELF-DECEPTION: A 245-tonne steel dome is lifted onto Hinkley Point C’s first reactor building, at Bridgwater, Somerset on December 15 2023 – note the slogan on the banner

The government’s nuclear power expansion plan is a hollow betrayal of working people that panders to wealthy corporations and will rip off consumers, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

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The restriction on building new reactors on existing nuclear sites is to be lifted so they could be built anywhere and everywhere and people who “hadn’t thought there’s going to be anything nuclear near me” will simply “get used to the idea of it,” Starmer said.

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The whole thing is of course a massive con that would, if such a plan ever materialised, dramatically raise electricity rates, further fleece taxpayers, impede real progress on climate by diverting money away from already available renewable energy solutions, and put countless communities in danger.

And of course, what will become of the radioactive waste these “small” reactors would still produce? A recent Stanford study found that small modular reactors will actually generate more radioactive waste than conventional nuclear power plants.

Unions should not be fooled. Promising jobs that will likely never materialise and would be better created immediately in industries such as renewable energy that are here now and have a long-term future, isn’t a boon to working people, it’s yet another betrayal.

Further, nuclear power, as the industry has itself demonstrated over and over, is the slowest and most expensive energy choice among the so-called low-carbon options.

No nuclear reactor, small or otherwise, will ever be built in time, affordably or in enough quantities to address the climate crisis that is already upon us.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/starmer’s-latest-con-job

Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.
Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.

Continue ReadingStarmer’s latest con job

Don’t prolong war in Ukraine, peace activists warn Starmer

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/dont-prolong-war-in-ukraine-peace-activists-warn-starmer

Prime Minister Keir Starmer returns to 10 Downing Street, London, after attending Prime Minister’s Questions at the Houses of Parliament, February 12, 2025

PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been warned off making “ludicrous long-term commitments” that prolong the war in Ukraine ahead of an emergency summit with European leaders today.

The Prime Minister has vowed to “work to ensure we keep America and Europe together” prior to discussing how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s push for an end to the war in Ukraine at the summit called by French president Emmanuel Macron.

The UN estimates 12,456 civilians have been killed during the war that is set to begin its fourth year on February 24.

Sir Keir said: “This is a once-in-a-generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia.

“It’s clear Europe must take on a greater role in Nato as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia.

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A Stop the War spokeswoman said: “Instead of increasing defence spending and making ludicrous long-term commitments to Zelensky, the government should be assisting the peace negotiations and spending our money at home, on restoring the winter fuel allowance, lifting the two-child benefit cap and generally fulfilling its commitments to improve the living standards of the working people of Britain.

“Continuing to push for Ukrainian membership of Nato and pouring money and arms into the country in order to keep an unwinnable war going is utterly reckless and will certainly fail.”

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Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/dont-prolong-war-in-ukraine-peace-activists-warn-starmer

Continue ReadingDon’t prolong war in Ukraine, peace activists warn Starmer