Had so much fun digging through the treasure trove of ZSL Library resources. Thanks so much to Ann and Emma who were so useful and accommodating, and thanks @s_pooley for some particularly provocative conversations!

I wrote last year about the ‘Integrity gap’ in UK politics as part of the Robin Cook memorial lecture. “The public see a political class whose proximity to wealth has corroded its independence and whose language of public service has become a hollowed-out ritual.”

Government admitting in advance that the new super regulator nonsense won't work and wants to add some Mayors to the mix! In what fantasy world are they going to control the financial engineers and predators that run our water via Macquarrie (Vampire Kangaroo), BlackRock and the feared Hedge funds? Wake up @andyburnham your government is looking either amateurish and naive or under the control of the polluters and scammers - or both. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmgr…

The CCC @theCCCuk offers Heathrow a thumbs up, conditional on the massive deployment of “snake oil” technologies (SAF & GGR). Report by Tyndall researchers, building on UK Govt commitments, science & maths, reaches a very different conclusion. See: climateuncensored.com/heathr…

Ofwat, Ofgem and Ofcom set caps on prices. They regulate the quality of service we get. They exert public influence on water, energy and Royal Mail That is public control. BUT we still see huge dividends for shareholders and poor, expensive services for us Public ownership is the only solution

Heathrow expansion = job LOSSES Alex Chapman, our Head of Economic and Environmental Policy, at the Transport Select Committee yesterday explained why Heathrow expansion will lead to net job losses across the country 👇

There's a real irony to this post from Thornberry. The person who won this vote by a landslide was Paul Tomlinson for Labour. He was a much-respected local figure, widely liked. But he was purged by the Party in December 2021. He was as one of a number of left-leaning candidates that were blocked from standing by Starmer and Labour machinery. Why? Because he opposed the building of a luxury skyscraper on one of the few pieces of green land in his ward. This is just one of the reasons why the Labour Party's vote had collapsed in Camden and Holborn & St Pancras. Since 2020 the local party has been utterly intolerant of dissent and ruthlessly purged councillors standing up for their community and environment against mega-profit landlords and builders - at the same time that Camden Council has performed abysmally as a landlord itself. It looks likely that Labour will choose a local councillor to stand in this by-election. But they're only councillors because they played by the rules of the pro-business, intolerant, anti-democratic Starmerite faction that took over the Party in 2020. They have bought participation by being steadfastly loyal to Starmerism and by staying silent and refusing to speak out - on local issues like housing AND international issues like Gaza.

Climate breakdown is a national security threat. Nature loss puts our food, water, health, economy and stability at risk. The Government no longer has the luxury of time. We need urgent action and a dedicated Climate Protection Unit. We need a Number 10 for the future.

We can't avoid exceeding 1.5°C—but we can still limit the damage. The new UNEP Limiting Overshoot report is a powerful reminder that the climate crisis is already reshaping our world. Coral reefs are bleaching, glaciers are disappearing, and biodiversity is under growing pressure. The good news? It's not too late to act. Every fraction of a degree we prevent matters. Faster emissions cuts, stronger climate action, and protecting nature can still make a huge difference for people and the planet. The choices we make today will define tomorrow. Read the full article: info.iucn.org/4gKW8PM

Global warming is set to cross 1.5°C, pushing climate risks and impacts to increasingly dangerous heights, a new UNEP report warns.   Predicted impacts include extreme weather and threats to human health and economies.   Action now can still limit the magnitude and duration of the peak and preserve the possibility of returning to or below 1.5°C through an ‘overshoot, peak, and decline’ pathway   Explore more: unep.org/news-and-stories/pr…

On his first appearance at the Despatch Box as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham just gave me a solid commitment that will be welcomed by leaseholders across the country. @FreeLeasehlders

This is being briefed as if it's unions opposing donations caps and that's why Burnham has caved on his promises to cap political donations at £500k. But we've literally JUST SEEN Burnham's donations disclosures, which are not even mentioned in this article. They show Burnham getting a pittance from unions but substantial donations from Gary Lubner (£25k) and Lord Sainsbury (over £160k) to support his Labour leadership bid. Lubner and Sainsbury were two of the biggest previous funders of Labour Together and the Starmer projects, who both personally made donations in the millions to Labour Together and/or the Labour Party. Burnham made his promise to cap donations at £500k to an activist in May this year. And then in June and July he gets bankrolled by the types of mega-donors who would be impacted by a donations cap, limiting their ability to influence politics. Then he drops the proposals that would impact on his personal donors. Deeply disappointing and really hard not to join these dots. theguardian.com/politics/202…

The brilliant Paul Whitehouse promoting the water referendum petition - this one - please sign and share petition.parliament.uk/petit…

remember we are at serious risk of water shortages in the near future, need urgent investments, and the PM is caving into US private equity lenders to Thames Water and their expensive lawyers.

The Prime Minister’s apology on Gaza was a start. But words need to be backed up with decisive action. That apology isn’t consistent with the Home Office continuing to block the evacuation of dozens of women and children. It appears that a harsher line is being taken with Palestinian families than with refugees from other countries who are applying for family reunification visas. I have signed @KimJohnsonMP's letter to the Home Secretary, urging Shabana Mahmood to evacuate all the Palestinians who have permission to come to the UK and to make sure that her policy for legal challenges for Palestinians coming to the UK is the same as that for refugees from other countries.

“The whole thing is such a massive scam [..] that most people can’t believe it.” Recently I hosted a screening of the documentary-drama exposing the sewage scandal, #DirtyBusiness, in Norwich. It was important to me that my constituents got to hear from the real people behind the show. People like Ash Smith of @WindrushWasp, who's spent 10+ years uncovering mass criminality in our privatised water system. Privatisation has failed us. It’s time for public ownership.

"Mum of girl, 8, who died of E.coli slams South West Water over sewage spill revelations." South West Water up to their old tricks again I see. mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/so…

Juliet, glorious to hear from you and thank you for this. I suspect Oxera might want to review some of their work. Transpires that out of the £104 billion supposedly to be spent during this AMP period £14.3bn of it is apparently coming from fresh equity, the remainder, £90bn is "allowed revenue", ie funded through the increase in bills over the next 5 years (Ofwat, City Briefing in December 2024). Upon closer examination however something quite interesting develops, of the £14.3bn coming from equity £13.2bn is then recouped via dividend payments back to the shareholders so in reality over the next 5 years the net contribution from shareholders is just £1bn. Leaving a total of £91bn in funding to be spent over the next 5 years 99% of which is being sourced directly from bill payers pockets. Makes you wonder why we ever needed shareholders in the first place.

Well that's all very inconvenient. Lobbying / comms company being paid to spy on environment charities by water company while also working for the very same environment charities.

Privatisation is threatening our water security. There's a very important debate coming up on 14th September. It'll be the first time Andy Burnham's government will have to talk about public ownership. Can you make sure your MP goes to it: actionnetwork.org/letters/as…

SUNDAY TIMES: Heathrow slashes its 3rd runway noise reduction budget from £241m to £52m. Clearly a sign of their attitude to the local community. #NoThirdRunway