David

just another punter in life’s lottery. RT not an endorsement

[Fraser Nelson @FraserNelson]

It's not just the exploitation of a tragedy.

JD Vance's picture of Britain - where migrants have led to a crime surge - is the opposite of the truth.

https://t.co/y5El5FUj7v

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

Thames Water should be nationalised, says Andy Burnham.

All water companies have criminal convictions, failed in their statutory duties, fleece customers to pay dividends.

Must enforce environmental laws, bankrupt them, nationalise at knockdown prices.
https://t.co/45TkrPMvks

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Welsh Water faces £44.7m 'enforcement package' for sewage failings."

The most abhorrent part in all of all of this is that Ofwat has just admitted that since 1994 when the sewage treatment regulations were introduced Welsh Water, like every other sewage company in the UK have been breaking the law.

That's 37 years of illegal activity, 37 years of incompetence, 37 years of failure, 37 years of the gross, violent, decimation of our rivers and beaches.

Where's the justice for them, where's the justice for bill players, where's the accountability, why aren't Ofwat's board now being prosecuted for misconduct in public office?

https://t.co/gn0tyg66Ti

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

Neoliberalism has landed the UK with a housing crisis.

Cuts in real wages, workers share of gross value added; profiteering, sale of social housing has left millions struggling for a home.

Can't deal with social problems without abandoning neoliberalism.
https://t.co/pOUoJsmCE9

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

THEY ARE BASTARDS!

We just got an email sent to MSE. The spelling was awful, and it was quite tough to understand. Lower down, the writer later explained she was 78 and her disability had stopped her being able to spell. So perhaps it is a stroke, or something similar.

I've tidied it and summarised below, changing some identifying details. In a nutshell, it was this...

"I invested, Martin, with Quotum when you first announced it on TV. What an opportunity for me to buy my own flat. My manager there passed me through to a nice man who asked me for £350 more. He showed me it was growing. I did what he told me to do."

She then goes on to explain how she really wanted her flat and she gave more and more money. And she has nothing left to help with her disability.

I'm honestly in tears typing this. These types of scam ads have now been going on for a decade. I have spent my career trying to help people with their finances. It feels visceral to get this, and to feel that this reputation has been perverted by criminals to steal from someone who is clearly so vulnerable leaves me feeling nauseous.

So many people, both vulnerable and not, lose money and see their lives and wellbeing destroyed. It's now seven years since I sued Facebook. And yet still nothing is being done.

Big tech makes £3bn a year from these scammers. We have a law in place to make them responsible for these ads they're paid to publish, yet it isn't implemented. How many more of these do I have to receive - and far worse, how many more people have to go through this?

This is relentless. It is wrong. Government has to take action! I wrote to the PM just two weeks ago on this very issue. I've not heard back yet.

(We are, of course, going to try and point her in the right direction to get help, but that will be stressful for her too)

[We Own It @We_OwnIt]

Unbelievable rip off

Our water is a natural monopoly but it's been sold off and handed out to shareholders around the world

We are a guaranteed revenue stream

Any government that cares about sewage and cost of living should be taking EVERY water company into special administration and PERMANENT PUBLIC OWNERSHIP whenever they fail to fulfil their statutory duties (which they do often)

[Humane World for Animals @humaneworldorg]

🚨BREAKING: A slaughterhouse has been identified on the outskirts of Yulin, China that slaughters dogs for the Yulin dog meat “festival.” We’re supporting the permanent closure of this slaughterhouse, but time is running out!

With the festival fast approaching, time is of the essence to save the surviving dogs and shut the operation down for good. Please donate NOW to help these and all animals: https://t.co/XrTNbJwkhY

[Mirror Politics @MirrorPolitics]

Nigel Farage 'is wrong about two-tier policing' - this is what the figures show
https://t.co/V2UJhhKVMd

[dave lawrence 🐟🐟🐠 @dave43law]

Katie Lam wrongly claims welfare has exceeded income tax ‘for the first time ever’

Welfare payments have been higher than income tax receipts for at least the last 16 years.

https://t.co/z7nNzf60HI

[Ethical American @AmericanEthical]

BREAKING: This photo of Trump today is going viral.

[Steve Perkins @Perky_43]

🚨 CLAIRE DZIUBEK 38 - left three starving dogs to rot in her garden

🌍 Ilkeston, Derbyshire DE7

Mother-of-two Dziubek admitted cruelty charges in relation to a 10-year-old white terrier-type dog called Bindi, a black whippet aged around six months named Teddy and a female Staffy-type dog named Gypsy.

On April 10, 2024, the RSPCA attended Dziubek’s address after being alerted to welfare concerns about dogs living there.

In a witness statement provided to the court, Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Nicola Riley said she wasn’t able to access the property, but was able to view the dogs in the garden, where she first saw Bindi.

She said: “I could clearly see its whole rib cage protruding and its hip bones were pronounced. It did not bark or jump up at all, even when it saw us looking and talking to it, it had no energy and was not bright or alert and its fur looked like it had mud matted into it.”

She then saw Gypsy, who appeared to be more active but still did not jump or bark in her presence, although her “ribs were very clearly outlined”.

A third dog – Teddy – was under a trampoline and “was very nervous and did not want to come out”.

ARO Riley said: “When it did emerge, I was taken back by how thin the dog was. It had no energy, was very lethargic and was moving very slowly. All the vertebrae along its back were prominent, both hip bones were protruding, all its ribs were prominent and protruding, and the bones on its legs were also clearly defined.”

The dogs were seized and taken to a vet for a health check.

Bindi was given a body condition score of one out of five denoting emaciation. She also had a high grade systolic heart murmur.

The vet said in their report that Bindi was emaciated, with a clearly visible spine and ribs despite her medium length hair – and it was obvious she had no subcutaneous fat and very little palpable muscle.

Puppy Teddy was also given a body score of one out of five. He was also emaciated, with virtually no musculature. His spine, ribs and shoulder blades were clearly visible.

Gypsy was given a body score of 1.5 out of five and was also said to be visibly underweight, with clearly visible ribs, shoulder blades and spine.

The court heard that the following day Bindi was unexpectedly found stretched out and deceased, having passed some faeces, at the back of her kennel.

Teddy, who was signed over into the care of the RSPCA, has now been happily rehomed. In January 2025, Gypsy was taken into the care of the RSPCA.

Following sentencing, RSPCA Chief Inspector Susie Micallef said: “We urge any pet owners who are struggling to please seek help. Don’t bury your head in the sand and leave conditions untreated and for them to become worse. There is help out there and we urge you to seek this before it’s too late.

“Sadly Bindi wasn’t able to be saved, but we are so pleased that Teddy recovered well and has found a forever home and Gypsy has also made a good recovery.”

Sentenced to a 17-week custodial, suspended for 12 months; 15 days of ‘rehab’; £500 costs and £154 victim surcharge. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 10 years.

Source Centre Stage for The Voiceless.

[David @TLLandscape]

@Helen_Whately New data proves this has been going on for years under the tories.Available jobs for young people entering the UK labour market have nearly halved over the last decade, according to joint research by the Work Foundation and Lancaster University

https://t.co/q3BFEzmrOE

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

🚨DONALD TRUMP HAS LOST CONSCIOUSNESS ON LIVE TV.

He’s about to fall out of the chair. This is ridiculous.

[Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari @RepYassAnsari]

Donald Trump fell asleep multiple times in the Oval Office today. AGAIN.

That’s why I’ve called for the 25th Amendment, and dozens of my colleagues have done the same. Donald Trump is unwell and must be removed from office. It’s a national security crisis.

[Cuckturd @CattardSlim]

How do we ever trust Walter Reed again?

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"'No signs of life' in stream after sewage spill."

And the @EnvAgency does what exactly?

https://t.co/4ZyaFy96BX

[J.R. Kineman 🇺🇦 I STAND WITH UKRAINE #HOLDFAST @Jkineman]

Commander in 💤
#CommanderInSleep

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

As SMF explain the basis for their calculations was what is know as the "regulatory capital value" (RCV) a number created by Ofwat and the industry all in an attempt to notionally represent what they think possibly might be the cash value of a water company.

Very loosely RCV it is a guesstimate of what someone thought the value of water companies was when they were privatised and then annually increased by adding on just about anything the water companies think they can get away with, capital expenditure, maintenance costs, interest payments on debt, basically anything that will make the number bigger and bigger and historically that total would then annually be multiplied by the Retail Price Index, well know for overstating the rate of inflation. Ofwat did change to using Consumer Price Index in 2020.

The driver here for the water companies is to make the RCV as big and as humongous as possible, increasing the so-called value of their company.

Since 2008 - 09 Ofwat conveniently have publish their latest RCV estimates. 👇

So when SMF did their report, 2018 the total RCV of the industry was given a total value of £69.022 billion.

However they weren't done yet, that clearly wasn't big enough a number so they factored in what SMF referred to as "a typical acquisition premium of 20-30%" in other words they simply multiplied the RVC by 1.3 giving a grand total figure of £89.728 billion.

It is that figure which has got rounded to £90bn the supposed cost to nationalise the water industry.

The whole processes is so utterly flawed that Sir Dieter Helm, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Economics at New College, Oxford referred to it as “economically illiterate”.

2/3

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

KPMG’s global bosses refused to probe Australia whistleblower claims.

Self-investigations are a sham. That is the model in the UK.

UK regulator is reducing audit inspections, thinks big firms will self-report abuses.

Need robust independent regulators.
https://t.co/3nn6YKYmSO

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Swimmers warned to avoid sewage release area."

Southern Water up to their old tricks again I see. Sewage illegally dumped into the sea and people told to say out of the water.

When are govt going to get a grip?

https://t.co/3jNNjEmDwF