Axel

[Axel @AxelExplores]

This is ridiculous. Give the man a symbolic fine as a slap on the wrist, making it clear that he needs a permit next time, and then put the resource into going after the water companies

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

In England, you're allowed to clear about 20 metres of silt and rubbish out of a river on your own. Anything past that needs a permit from the Environment Agency. Paul Powlesland's volunteers cleared a 250-metre stretch of the River Roding with a hired digger, which is why a barrister who hauled out 200 bags of trash is now under criminal investigation.

The Roding runs through east London. Powlesland lives on a boat moored on it, and for years he and a group of volunteers have pulled out shopping trolleys, needles, old appliances, even weapons. Kingfishers, herons and dragonflies came back to water that used to be buried under junk. This one job took 10 days and a digger that cost £1,000 to hire.

The rule that caught him is oddly specific. Under England's water rules, scooping silt off the bottom of a river the agency officially manages counts as a "flood risk activity", and the law treats that the same as building a structure in the water. Do it without a permit and the offence carries up to two years in prison. The agency says it is also looking at waste the volunteers left on the floodplain. Powlesland is an environmental lawyer who has used these exact laws to protect rivers and trees, and a conviction could cost him his licence to practise.

The agency's reasoning isn't unreasonable. Dredging done badly can push flooding onto people downstream and wreck the habitat that protected animals need, which is what the permit is meant to prevent. The 20-metre allowance is there for small jobs. And no decision to prosecute has actually been made.

While investigators were knocking on a volunteer's door within a week of his cleanup, water companies discharged raw sewage into England's rivers and seas for a combined 3.6 million hours in 2024, more than 400 years of spilling packed into a single year. Only 14% of English rivers are in good health. Between 2015 and 2025, the Environment Agency investigated water companies for pollution 11,474 times. Fifty-eight of those ended in a prosecution. For serious pollution over the last five years, the number of water companies actually taken to court and convicted is zero.

So the message comes out backwards. Spend ten days and a thousand pounds making a river cleaner and an officer turns up within the week. Pump sewage into that same river for years and the chance of seeing a courtroom is close to zero.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@EastMidRailway I have an advance single for tomorrow that has been cancelled. Can I use Thameslink services to get to Luton Airport Parkway? It looks like most of the EMR services are cancelled.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@DisneyDLV That makes it so much more genuine. Can you please also fix the notification issue? I’ve had a red dot on my furniture lists for so long I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t there.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@hningsalmondmlk I’m a kiwi in the UK and I think they’re great too

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@tristandross I want to know who’s getting 6%, because I’m certainly not

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@fIametrooper @crits4cats She’s so majestic

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@feederofcats I love this ridiculous man

[Axel @AxelExplores]

Removing features (including the fun ones like badges and sleep animals), and further ruining an experience that’s already on the downturn is so modern day tech that I’m not even surprised. Fitbits have become glitchy and this is another really bad move.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@dietxcokewhore The official recommended temperature for offices is designed for the average 30 year old man. Men run hotter than women, so offices are automatically too cold for women.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@Shaun100to30 @MikeParcej @ChesterRaces So you’re buying a cup, not renting it, but they tell you not to take it home? Someone messed up an environmental policy

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@feederofcats He’s so pretty and emotive

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@feinmhuinin And how do you not check your booking information in the confirmation screen before handing over your credit card for payment (assuming it’s a non-refundable rate)?

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@soundthesyrens The big retailers in the UK, including the supermarkets, send you an email a few weeks before asking if you’d like to opt out of Mother’s/Father’s Day marketing. It was a nice surprise when it first happened and clears my inbox as someone who celebrates the NZ dates instead.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

MPs are paid more than double the living wage. Why are we subsidising food & alcohol for them anyway?

No one’s saying they can’t have an after work pint, but if you’re voting and making decisions for millions you shouldn’t be drinking ‘mid-shift’.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@adamscochran This is very “dear diary” for a manifesto

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@campbelIbain Omg, you have @Bad_Babette merch

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@feederofcats I love her so much. Oh to be a cat in a rainbow house

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@AlliesGata @diomedes_66 @AzPetrich The creator of the site explained that you need to create an account, even using a dummy email address, so that it prevents the website being overloaded with bot submissions. It doesn’t require any identifying info and a dummy email means that you’re still protected.

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@flakferret $14?!!! That’s higher than some paywalled streaming services!

[Axel @AxelExplores]

@lallathurayya How about ‘Forecasting Manager at XYZ Bar’ and then turn the actions you took into corporate speak?