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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

Continue ReadingThames Water impending collapse is ultimate result of privatisation, say campaigners

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

Government overturns Tory measure and bans emergency use of bee-killing pesticide

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/23/government-decision-not-to-authorise-pesticide-is-sweet-as-honey-for-pollinators

The pesticide Cruiser SB has the potential to kill off populations of bees. Photograph: Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Emergency use of Cruiser SB, a neonicotinoid pesticide highly toxic to bees, to be outlawed in UK in line with EU

Bee-killing pesticides have been banned for emergency use in the UK for the first time in five years after the government rejected an application from the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar.

The neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB, which is used on sugar beet, is highly toxic to bees and has the potential to kill off populations of the insect. It is banned in the EU but the UK has provisionally agreed to its emergency use every year since leaving the bloc. It combats a plant disease known as virus yellows by killing the aphid that spreads it.

Prof Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex, has warned that one teaspoon of the chemical is enough to kill 1.25bn honeybees. Even at non-fatal doses it can cause cognitive problems that make it hard for bees to forage for nectar and the chemicals can stay in the soil for years.

The previous Conservative government repeatedly agreed to its use against the advice of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Expert Committee on Pesticides.

This year, ministers say they are refusing the application based on “robust assessments of environmental, health and economic risks and benefits, and advice from Defra’s chief scientific adviser, its economists, the Health and Safety Executive and the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides”.

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Continues at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/23/government-decision-not-to-authorise-pesticide-is-sweet-as-honey-for-pollinators

Continue ReadingGovernment overturns Tory measure and bans emergency use of bee-killing pesticide

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