the filthy rich

Spending watchdog warns £38bn cost of Sizewell C nuclear plant is ‘risky’

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/20/spending-watchdog-warns-38bn-cost-of-sizewell-c-nuclear-plant-is-risky

The NAO overall savings for households from the plant could be outstripped by the cost of supporting its construction until almost halfway through its 60-year operational life. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Reuters

National Audit Office says potential benefits are ‘considerable but uncertain’ while risks are ‘immediate and substantial’

The cost of the government’s £38bn nuclear plant in Suffolk is subject to “significant uncertainty” and may outweigh the benefits for UK households until at least 2064, according to the government’s spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has warned that although the potential benefits of the Sizewell C nuclear plant are considerable, they remain uncertain. The risks, however, are “immediate, substantial and borne by the public”.

The government claims the nuclear reactor, expected to generate the equivalent of enough low-carbon electricity to power 6m homes when it begins operations in the late 2030s, could save £2bn a year from the electricity system compared with using other low-carbon technologies.

However, for households the overall savings could be outstripped by the cost of supporting its construction until almost halfway through its 60-year operational life. The project could take even longer to “break even” if there are cost overruns or delays, the NAO warned.

“Sizewell C is a project of exceptional scale, complexity and significance for taxpayers,” said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the chair of the public accounts committee, which oversees the work of the NAO. “Experience from comparable nuclear projects in the UK and overseas highlights their vulnerability to delays and cost overruns.”

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Stop Sizewell C said the risks surrounding the project “could easily turn Sizewell C into a financial disaster” while the funding model meant its investors were “the only ones who can’t lose”.

The NAO has urged the government to mitigate the risk by using “close monitoring, greater transparency to parliament, and by securing value for money from the significant public and private investment”.

Continues at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/20/spending-watchdog-warns-38bn-cost-of-sizewell-c-nuclear-plant-is-risky

A government spokesperson said investing in large-scale nuclear power was the “only way to get our country off the rollercoaster of volatile global gas markets”.

What about big renewable then e.g. generation from tides? We reliably have huge tides.

Continue ReadingSpending watchdog warns £38bn cost of Sizewell C nuclear plant is ‘risky’

UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/20/uk-built-for-climate-that-no-longer-exists-and-needs-urgent-changes-to-survive-global-heating-report-warns

The Climate Change Committee report called for air conditioning to be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years. Photograph: Posed by model; Olezzo/Getty Images

Landmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050

British homes will need air conditioning to survive predicted levels of global heating, the government’s climate advisers have warned in a report, as measures such as drawing curtains, opening windows and growing trees for shade are not likely to be enough.

Air conditioning should be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which published a major report on adapting to the impacts of global heating on Wednesday.

The government should also set a maximum temperature for working, indoors and outdoors, the advisers said. The UK should prepare for 2C of global heating by 2050, as attempts to limit temperatures to 1.5C above preindustrial levels under the Paris agreement appeared likely to fail.

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Julia King, the chair of the adaptation subcommittee of the CCC, said of the many climate threats laid out in the report, extreme heat posed the most immediate risk to life. “Extreme heat is certainly the most deadly of the climate impacts on the UK, so we need to see cooling rolled out at scale,” she said.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/20/uk-built-for-climate-that-no-longer-exists-and-needs-urgent-changes-to-survive-global-heating-report-warns

Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Continue ReadingUK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns

Unions hit out at ‘epidemic of insecure work’ as economic fallout from Iran war revealed

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-hit-out-epidemic-insecure-work-economic-fallout-iran-war-revealed

 General view of the Job Centre Plus on Benalder St in Glasgow

UNIONS hit out at an “epidemic of insecure work” as the economic fallout from the Iran war was revealed for the first time today.

Youth unemployment has risen to its highest rate in more than a decade with one in seven (14.7 per cent) 16 to 24-year-olds looking for work.

Zero-hours contracts have hit a record high of 1.23 million — up 65,000 on the year.

The first official statistics since the war broke out in late February also showed job vacancies down to their lowest level for 11 years outside of the pandemic. They fell by 28,000 to 705,000 in the three months ending in March.

Youngsters looking for their first job face a fiercely competitive jobs market with 22.7 per cent now out of work for more than a year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.

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TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The ongoing economic fallout from Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran risks dashing hopes of a stabilising jobs market.

“There is an epidemic of insecure work in this country. 

“That’s why the government needs to deliver on its promise to give all workers a right to a contract which reflects their regular hours and end the scourge of insecure work for good.”

…

Article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-hit-out-epidemic-insecure-work-economic-fallout-iran-war-revealed

Continue ReadingUnions hit out at ‘epidemic of insecure work’ as economic fallout from Iran war revealed

Reform UK Councillors Told to Speak Only to GB News’ as Party Shuns Local Press

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Reform UK Councillors Told to Speak Only to GB News’ as Party Shuns Local Press

The editor of an independent local news outlet, which has been shunned by Reform UK, says Nigel Farage’s party is borrowing ‘straight [from] the Trump playbook’ in its approach to the press.

Oliver Rouane-Williams, the founder and editor of Ipswich.co.uk, an independent local title in Suffolk, is warning of US-style attacks on independent journalism by Nigel Farage’s party, after the Reform chairman in his patch reportedly ordered Ipswich candidates not to engage with reporters – directing them towards GB News instead.

Media freedom groups are worried it is part of a trend. Last week, Clacton MP Farage published the name and photograph of a photographer who had been undertaking his duties in a public place near the Reform leader’s home, in a move condemned by his employers at The Guardian.

Rouane-Williams told Byline Times that his publication has no working relationship with Reform UK locally following an edict from the Ipswich party chairman.

The local news chief said his outlet had attempted to engage Reform candidates ahead of the elections through a standard ‘meet the candidate’ format, putting the same five questions to every candidate of every party, but received nothing back from Reform.

The publication subsequently faced pushback from Reform voters who felt the coverage was biased – forcing Rouane-Williams to explain the absence of Reform voices was not down to editorial bias but to the party’s refusal to engage.

The Ipswich.co.uk founder says he then learnt that Shayne Pooley, the chairman of Reform in Ipswich, had instructed all of the party’s candidates in the town not to engage with the media, and had specifically told them not to answer questions from Ipswich.co.uk.

Nigel Farage explains the politics of Reform UK: Racism, Fake anti-establishmentism, Deregulation, Corporatism, Climate Change Denial, Mysogyny and Transphobia.
Nigel Farage explains the politics of Reform UK: Racism, Fake anti-establishmentism, Deregulation, Corporatism, Climate Change Denial, Mysogyny and Transphobia.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage blames the Muzzies.
Nigel Farage blames the Muzzies.
Continue ReadingReform UK Councillors Told to Speak Only to GB News’ as Party Shuns Local Press

Has anybody seen Nigel? Speculation swirls as Farage performs disappearing act

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/19/nigel-farage-reform-uk-disappearance-politics

Reform UK gave no response when asked about the whereabouts of Nigel Farage. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

As campaigners take to the streets for what could be the most significant byelection for decades, the Reform leader’s absence remains a mystery

It has been six days since Nigel Farage cancelled a scheduled appearance at a Reform UK rally in Sunderland, a key election target in Labour’s heartlands.

The reasons given – chaos in government and what appeared to be an impending Labour leadership race – seemed logical. After all, as a quotation sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte goes: never interfere with an enemy while he is in the process of destroying himself.

Yet as the days have passed, the continued absence of a politician who has in recent years seemed almost omnipresent has become all the more stark.

Reform was contacted to ask about Farage’s whereabouts but gave no response.

Of course, the elephant in the room has been the investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog into a £5m gift given to Farage by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/19/nigel-farage-reform-uk-disappearance-politics

Anyone looked in the pub?

Climate science denier Nigel Farage explains that it's simple to blame asylum-seekers or Muslims for everything.
Climate science denier Nigel Farage explains that it’s simple to blame asylum-seekers or Muslims for everything.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage reminds you that he's the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.
Nigel Farage reminds you that he’s the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.
Continue ReadingHas anybody seen Nigel? Speculation swirls as Farage performs disappearing act