“That loan would then be paid off through taxation, or by increasing energy bills for 10 to 15 years, or some mix of the two. So, all we are in fact back to is a borrowing arrangement forcibly imposed on the country to bail out energy companies whose businesses have failed.”

'Surfers are nearly x3 as likely as non-bathers to have E. coli in their gut resistant to clinically important antibiotics'. Surfers Against Sewage Hugo Tagholm

'E. coli in water is a strong indicator of SEWAGE or animal waste contamination.'

But note what this scheme does. Its whole intention is to keep the energy companies afloat, with this government-backed loan to be paid off by tax or increased prices over years to come providing the means to ensure that happens.

And let's be clear about this: these companies have failed businesses. If the product they want to supply can only be delivered at a price that people cannot and will not pay because they will not have the means to do so then these companies are bust.

That loan would then be paid off through taxation, or by increasing energy bills for 10 to 15 years, or some mix of the two. So, all we are in fact back to is a borrowing arrangement forcibly imposed on the country to bail out energy companies whose businesses have failed.

Those close to the government appear to be realising that UK households have no chance of surviving the coming winter with fuel bills forecast to rise to £4,000 or more a year. But the plan they're looking at is dire. A thread....

This needs to be read by everyone. If your local kebab shop started selling the same kebabs for £80 a pop they’d go bust and someone else would take over. The boss would be gone, they’d be in debt and nobody would complain. Energy is kebabs and kebabs is energy. Nationalise now!

My new Twitter correspondent Darren wants us all to 'be kind' after he 'sinks' asylum seekers' dinghies. Pro Brexit you'll be astonished to hear.

Poor Kent has been bashed by #brexit turning it into a giant lorry park but also removed the luxury of jumping on a train to the continent.

Ashford and Ebbsfleet trains now only run to Margate, Maidstone and London.

I wonder if Nige still lives in Kent?
independent.co.uk/travel/news-an…

Here we go again. Tories act as judge and jury in the court of their own opinion and always find themselves not guilty.

Sorry for the longish thread, but stuff like this must not go unchallenged. (For reference the relevant portion of the code is here: bbc.co.uk/editorialguide…)

Neil Henderson Gaetan Portal Matthew Sydney You can't actually believe that. That the rules on due impartiality somehow prevent a sports presenter from complaining about the excessive discharge of effluent into waterways. First, a non-news person's tweets are plainly not 'BBC output' as defined by the code. 1/ Gary Lineker 💙💛

Neil Henderson Gaetan Portal Matthew Sydney Gary Lineker 💙💛 This is why the BBC is losing people like Maitlis, Sopel, and Goodall, while promoting beige, soft-soaping hospital radio DJs. When criticism is necessary, accurate and fair, to NOT criticise is not a hallmark of impartiality, but a stark indication of a total lack of it. 8/8 END

Today is Ukraine Independence Day.

It marks 31 years since Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 & six months since the Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian flag will be flying from the Town Hall to show support for Ukrainians in our town & across the world.

UK real wages since 1900

B4B board member and CEO of NEF, Miatta Fahnbulleh on BBC Radio 4 Today using facts to slay the Tory narrative that the UK's productivity problem is because 'Brits just need to work harder'

We need investment, we need skills, and crucially we need demand, maybe by giving people a pay rise.

There's a reason the UK has the highest inflation of any G7 country

thenational.scot/news/20719253.…

The midnight of the century...