It's been a strange start to the year with some personal issues keeping me away from gigs but hopefully I can start getting to a few more again starting with this one tonight...
Gig posts will now be moving over to @nxb3.bsky.social and @nxb32024.Instagram.com
South West Water's £1.8m fine is pathetic. 16,000 households affected. >500 people taken ill. 10 people hospitalised.
22 convictions for SWW since 2014. Why do we reward criminal activity with a 25 year licence & fines totalling 0.04% of the money they've extracted since privatisation?
They should be fined into oblivion. https://t.co/9Cy725jiHD
Two Reform Councillors had died before they were elected.
Five have quit because they never actually wanted to be Councillors.
At least four have been fired because they are vile racists.
One is complaining because he thought he'd be an MP.
One was completely made up
Clown party
Oh here we go, a director of South Wast Water. responsible for overseeing fat cat salaries and bonuses also runs a business offering "aura cleansing and crystal healing using techniques 'passed down through a 3,000-year-old lineage'."
Who in the hell appoints these people, @NatWestGroup any ideas?
https://t.co/35QIvNbdXf
Could Farage face a by-election?
Two investigations into his undeclared £5m gift.
The Electoral Commission
Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
If as result he is suspended from the Commons for 10+sitting days, petition by 10% of constituents can trigger Recall and by-election.
I have seen this lie told so many times even by govt ministers. To be clear the £104 billion investment is not being provided by water company shareholders it's being funded by you, from your bank account not theirs.
Just met a Reform UK voting couple who didn't know it opposed:
Rise in minimum wage
End of two-child benefit cap
Expansion of free school meals, free breakfast clubs
Help with school uniforms
Horrified that they would lose big from Reform
How many others voted without knowing?
If you can go to jail for fly tipping, why shouldn't prison be an option for a far greater and more permanent assault on the environment?
Water companies pollute because they operate without fear. Instill that fear and watch them change.
"The government has missed its own deadline for bringing enforcement action against water companies polluting rivers and seas."
And yet again there we have it. All of the promises, all of the empty, vacuous words, all of the failed commitments.
Worthless, meaningless, nonsense.
https://t.co/9NPInoFCol
Having worked out that voters don’t like it when you threaten to dismantle one of the UK’s greatest achievements - the NHS -, he resorts to bare face lying.
Be clear, there is no doubt that if he gets into power, the NHS will be over.
I literally spend my entire life focusing on what politicians are doing to the NHS, and I’m going to wade in here with my personal view. I don’t think Labour’s fixing the NHS. They’re far too enthusiastic about involving private companies seeking to profit from the service…
Feargal Sharkey, "Water companies... The fines don't work, it's time we actually started upholding the law, and sending some of these executives and directors to jail"
Krishnan Guru-Murthy, "You think we should put them in jail?"
Feargal Sharkey, "If we put one water company boss in jail for six weeks the whole industry would transform itself"
Not a single completed prosecution for any of the 2 million instances of illegal sewage dumping in the last 5 years. Yet the government claims to be taking action.
#Channel4 is continuing to expose the privatised water industry tonight.
Time to end this mess. Take water into public ownership.
Brilliant, brilliant exposé by Alex Thomson @alextomo on @Channel4News last night, blowing the lid of the corrupt, and it is corruption of the @EnvAgency allowing water companies to walk away from criminal charges, jail time, unlimited fines and all for nothing more than a slap on the wrist and some blood money paid to local charities.
It's time to put an end to this nonsense, it's time to hold people to account, it's time to send the fat cats to jail.
https://t.co/ph5PFXUph5
BBC News finally cover Nigel Farage's £5 million gift from a crypto billionaire
NF says its within the rules and shouts down at the reporter
Then Chris Mason refuses to explain the rules
Here's what the rules say @ChrisMasonBBC - shame on you for not explaining this:
UK House of Commons rules (Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members) require new MPs to register benefits received in the 12 months before election if they relate to parliamentary, political activities, or membership of the House. This includes gifts/benefits over certain thresholds (often £300+
There is an exemption for "purely personal gifts" unrelated to political/parliamentary activities (e.g., family gifts). However, the rules explicitly state:
"Both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered."
Why Farage's Claim Doesn't Hold Up Clearly
-Timing and context: The gift came shortly before Farage reversed his decision not to stand and was elected MP for Clacton. Harborne is Reform UK's biggest donor (millions to the party)
-Purpose: Farage described it as for lifelong security amid threats (e.g., referencing a later firebombing and past incidents). Security tied to his high-profile political role blurs the "purely personal" line—opponents argue it supported his ability to campaign/hold office.
-Non-declaration: It wasn't registered with parliamentary authorities or (per critics) the Electoral Commission as a regulated donee/donation. New MPs must declare relevant pre-election benefits
While Farage invokes the personal-use exemption, the rules' "if in doubt, register" clause and the facts (donor motive, political context, use for security linked to public life) make his position contested at best.
“I would gently point out to Nigel Farage that before we left the EU we had a returns agreement with every country in the EU. He told the country it would make no difference if we left. He was wrong about that. These are Farage boats in many senses coming across the channel” - Keir Starmer
Let’s call this bull**** out TOGETHER
The 200,000 illegal migrants figure Farage is using is over several years and let’s remind ourselves how we got into this mess in the first place - BREXIT
And now in threatening to punish those parts of the country where people don’t vote his way the Reform party leader is betraying the basic principles of democracy - its shameless and grotesque bullying which shows nothing but contempt for voters