kent

‘They’re a private company, run for profit!’: fury in Kent at South East Water’s outages

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/28/anger-kent-south-east-water-outages

Water company blames increased demand in extreme heat, but customers want answers about lack of storage reservoirs

“Spitting, fuming, angry and powerless” is how Pat Prestage describes her emotions after a water outage that has affected thousands of homes in Kent during the heatwave.

On Wednesday, 8,000 South East Water customers in Whitstable lost water, with 14,000 more in Tankerton, Ashford, and its surrounding areas facing an intermittent supply or low pressure. South East Water’s incident manager, Matthew Dean, said on Thursday that 22,000 people had had water supply problems.

The company blamed increased demand in the hot weather and asked people to use water only for essential purposes.

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The Prestages are angry at the company’s response, particularly its co-option of what the couple describe as the “blitz spirit” in asking customers with water to ease up on their usage to help those without.

“They talk to the public as if they’re a public service. They’re a private company, run for profit!” says Pat. “Some of the money we’re paying, they’re pocketing, and it’s not going into the reservoir we’ve needed for 40 years.”

Martin says “the inference is almost that it’s our fault”.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/28/anger-kent-south-east-water-outages

Continue Reading‘They’re a private company, run for profit!’: fury in Kent at South East Water’s outages

Water privatisers ‘treating system as an ATM,’ campaigners say as bills set to hike

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-privatisers-treating-system-atm-campaigners-say-bills-set-hike

 People collect bottled water at a water station in East Grinstead, after South East Water blamed bad weather for more water outages in Kent and parts of Sussex, January 13, 2026.

WATER privatisers are treating the system as an ATM, campaigners said today as South East Water (SEW) confirmed bills will rise to an average of £324 a year from April.

The increase comes as the company faces an Ofwat investigation after thousands of homes and businesses were left without water in recent weeks.

About 30,000 properties across Kent and Sussex were affected earlier this month, which SEW blamed on Storm Goretti causing burst pipes and power cuts. 

This followed a similar incident in December, when 24,000 customers in Tunbridge Wells were left without drinking water for up to two weeks.

Ofwat is also investigating whether SEW breached customer service obligations, marking its first probe under the regulator’s customer-focused licence condition.

If breaches are confirmed, the company could be placed into special administration.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-privatisers-treating-system-atm-campaigners-say-bills-set-hike

Image of a burst water main.
Image of a burst water main.
Continue ReadingWater privatisers ‘treating system as an ATM,’ campaigners say as bills set to hike

More than 50 child asylum seekers still missing after disappearing from Kent care

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/01/more-than-50-child-asylum-seekers-still-missing-after-disappearing-from-kent-care

Border Force officers assisting a child. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Council data obtained by the Guardian shows 345 children have gone missing in recent years, many probably taken by traffickers

More than 50 lone child asylum seekers who disappeared soon after arriving in the UK and while in the care of the authorities are still missing, according to data obtained by the Guardian.

Many of the missing children arrived in small boats or hidden in the backs of lorries and are thought to have been taken by traffickers. Kent is often the place where they arrive.

Freedom of information data from Kent county council (KCC), which is controlled by Reform UK, has documented 345 children going missing from their area, with 56 of those still missing.

Between 2021 and 2023, when the Home Office operated two hotels for children in Kent, along with hotels in other areas, 132 children went missing from those two hotels. Of these, 108 were later found but 24 are still missing. Between 2020 and August 2025, 213 children went missing from the council’s reception centres for this group of children, with 182 found and 32 still missing.

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Esme Madill, of the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit at Islington Law Centre, said: “These figures are shocking. Behind each number is a frightened child who will already have experienced egregious human rights abuses before arriving in the UK seeking safety. When we represent children who have escaped after being trafficked whilst ‘missing’ in the UK, we see how their mental and physical health is permanently harmed by the abuse they experience during this time.

“For one child to go missing represents an abject failure of the state to protect the most fragile and abused in their care. These numbers are in the hundreds.”

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Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/01/more-than-50-child-asylum-seekers-still-missing-after-disappearing-from-kent-care

Continue ReadingMore than 50 child asylum seekers still missing after disappearing from Kent care

Palestine supporters blockade entrance to arms factory in Kent

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-supporters-blockade-entrance-to-arms-factory-kent

Photo: Martin Pope

AN ISRAELI arms factory in Kent was under siege today [yesterday] after Palestine supporters blockaded its entrance roads.

The Instro Precision factory is part of Israeli-owned Elbit Systems, which is believed to manufacture military drones, pilotless aircraft and other weapons for Israel.

Palestine Action mounted the blockade and vehicles were used to block the entrances.

Activists also covered the premises in red paint, symbolising “Palestinian bloodshed.”

Palestine Action said the factory’s products were not affected by last week’s government announcement that 50 [dizzy:30] out of 320 arms export licences were being suspended.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-supporters-blockade-entrance-to-arms-factory-kent

Continue ReadingPalestine supporters blockade entrance to arms factory in Kent

Trade unionists shut down weapons factory to halt arms supply to Israel

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https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/trade-unionists-shut-down-weapons-factory-to-halt-arms-supply-to-israel

Over 400 disrupt operations at BAE Systems site and call for ceasefire ahead of national march for Palestine 10 Nov 2023
Over 400 disrupt operations at BAE Systems site and call for ceasefire ahead of national march for Palestine 10 Nov 2023

HUNDREDS of trade unionists disrupted operations at an arms factory in Kent today, blockading entrances and preventing workers and deliveries from entering the site.

More than 400 activists targeted a factory belonging to BAE Systems, a key weapons supplier to Israel, in protest over the country’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza.

United under the banner “Workers for a Free Palestine,” members of Unite, Unison, GMB, NEU, BMA, UCU, Bectu, and BFAWU, halted operations and called for an immediate ceasefire.

BAE Systems, the largest weapons firm in Britain, manufactures components for Israel’s F-35 stealth combat aircraft.

The fighter jets are currently being used in ongoing attacks against innocent civilians in Gaza, where the death toll has risen to more than 10,000.

Notably, the “active interceptor system,” which is used by pilots to direct and manoeuvre the aircraft, is also produced at the site in Kent.

Alexandra, a teacher and NEU member taking part in the blockade, said: “Seeing 185 schools and other educational institutions in Gaza bombed is utterly heartbreaking.

“If our government and the Labour opposition won’t support a ceasefire, as workers we will continue to take action to stop the slaughter of civilians in our name, funded by our taxes.

“The British arms industry, which is subsidised by public money, is involved in the mass killing of Palestinians.

“We’re here today to disrupt the Israeli war machine and take a stand against our government’s complicity and we urge workers across the UK to take similar action.”

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https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/trade-unionists-shut-down-weapons-factory-to-halt-arms-supply-to-israel

Continue ReadingTrade unionists shut down weapons factory to halt arms supply to Israel