UK - England, Wales, N.Ireland, Scotland

[Suranis]

Speaking in an interview on the Beyond Unprecedented podcast by Columbia Law School in New York, Mr Pill said: “[People] need to accept that they're worse off and stop trying to maintain their real spending power by bidding up prices, whether [through] higher wages or passing the energy costs through onto customers.”

The reason this sentence makes absolutely no sense is that in the original is that in the original interview he was actually talking about COMPANIES. He was saying that COMPANIES need to accept they are worse off, and stop trying to keep up the massive profits by jacking up prices on a public that simply don't have the spending capacity to keep them in their hookers and blow.

[Volkonski]

Gee, maybe the UK should join the EU to get better trade.

[RTH10260]

we don't need no stinkin' EU, but we now proudly follow the regulations and rules of the CPTPP

UK strikes biggest trade deal since Brexit to join major free trade bloc in Indo-Pacific
Prime Minister announces deal to join CPTPP – a huge trade bloc in the Indo-Pacific which will now have a total GDP of £11 trillion

Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, Department for Business and Trade, The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, and The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP
31 March 2023

• Prime Minister announces deal to join CPTPP – a huge trade bloc in the Indo-Pacific which will now have a total GDP of £11 trillion
  Joining the dynamic Trans-Pacific partnership will cut tariffs on exports for UK industries including food, drink and cars and offer new advantages for business
  After 21 months of negotiations, this is the UK’s biggest trade deal since Brexit and becomes first European country to join CPTPP

The UK will join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a vast free trade area of 11 countries spanning the Indo-Pacific, the Prime Minister has announced today [Friday 31March].

The historic agreement follows two years of intense negotiations by the Department for Business and Trade and puts the UK at the heart of a dynamic group of economies, as the first European member and first new member since CPTPP was created. We would not have been able to join as a member of the EU, demonstrating how the UK is seizing the opportunities of our new post-Brexit trade freedoms to drive jobs and growth across the country.

The bloc is home to more 500 million people and will be worth 15% of global GDP once the UK joins. It is estimated that joining will boost the UK economy by £1.8 billion in the long run, with wages also forecast to rise by £800 million compared to 2019 levels.

Being part of CPTPP will support jobs and economic growth across the country, with every nation and region expected to benefit. More than 99 percent of UK goods exports to CPTPP countries will now be eligible for zero tariffs, including key UK exports such as cheese, cars, chocolate, machinery, gin and whisky.

Total UK exports to CPTPP countries were already worth £60.5 billion in the 12 months to the end of September 2022 and are set to grow under CPTPP. Our leading services industry will also benefit from reduced red tape and greater access to growing Pacific markets with an appetite for high-quality UK products and services.



https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-s ... do-pacific

[RTH10260]

UK - to have clean water or not, that's the question

No wonder the EU does not want to import their sea critters as food.

Firm releases almost 800kg of ‘forever chemical’ a year into Lancashire river
Exclusive: Environment Agency finds ‘very persistent, mobile and toxic’ PFAS in effluent legally discharged near Wyre estuary

Rachel Salvidge
Sat 29 Apr 2023 07.00 BST

A chemicals company is releasing large quantities of a “forever chemical” described as being “very persistent, mobile and toxic” into the River Wyre in Lancashire each year, and is not breaking any rules.

Earlier this year, the Guardian and Watershed Investigations revealed that effluent coming from the site of AGC Chemicals Europe in Thornton-Cleveleys could contain about 700 types of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS).

PFAS is an umbrella term for thousands of human-made substances known as “forever chemicals” because they will not break down in the environment for thousands of years. Some are also known to be toxic and can accumulate in the human body.

The Environment Agency has now released its evaluation of a PFAS known as EEA-NH4 that was found in the effluent, and said it was “very persistent” and “mobile” in the environment, as well as “toxic” because it was classified as “reprotoxic category 2”, meaning there was evidence to suggest it could disrupt sexual function, fertility and development in humans.

Using data supplied by AGC Chemicals Europe, including monitoring data and effluent volumes released into the River Wyre, the agency estimated that an average of about 783kg of EEA-NH4 is discharged into the river each year.

The report highlights multiple gaps in knowledge, including whether, as with many PFAS, the substance builds up in humans and animals. “It is not possible to draw a conclusion on the bioaccumulation potential of EEA-NH4 in air-breathing organisms in the absence of data on the human clearance time or better predictive methods,” it states.



https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ent-agency

[RTH10260]

UK households missing out on £19bn a year in unclaimed welfare benefits
Complexity of system and perception of government handouts as ‘shameful’ stopping people from accessing much-needed support

Patrick Butler Social policy editor
Sun 30 Apr 2023 20.15 BST

Millions of UK households are collectively missing out on at least £19bn a year in unclaimed welfare benefits, at a time when many are forced to use food banks or run up debt as they struggle with rising living costs, according to new estimates.

Lower income households are failing to claim benefits and other cash support for which they are eligible, according to a study by the consultancy Policy in Practice. Some families could be forgoing as much as £4,000 a year.

The sheer complexity of the benefits system, lack of public awareness of what support is available for households, and fear of being perceived by others as “benefit scroungers” all contribute to the high level of unclaimed or underclaimed benefits, says the analysis.

It estimates that 1.3m households are eligible for but do not take up the UK’s main working-age benefit, universal credit, resulting in £7.5bn going unclaimed each year. Nearly 3m eligible families do not claim council tax support (£2.9bn), while 5m households miss out on nearly £2bn of support for water, energy and broadband bills.




https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... e-benefits

[Kendra]

Well, technically it's NY and not England, but I'll dump it here.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/americas ... index.html

CNN
—
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were involved in a “near catastrophic car chase” involving paparazzi in New York City on Tuesday night, his spokesperson says.

Harry was accompanying Meghan at the Women of Vision Awards, held at the city’s Ziegfeld Ballroom.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also traveling with Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother.

In a statement obtained by CNN, a spokesperson for the couple said: “Last night, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms. Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.”

“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.”

The statement said the couple understand that “being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety.”

“Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved.”

This is a breaking news story. We will bring you more as we get it.

[Volkonski]

Considering how Prince Harry's mother died this must have been especially disturbing for him.

[Lani]

Considering how Prince Harry's mother died this must have been especially disturbing for him.

That's what I thought.

[Azastan]

They are claiming that there was a TWO HOUR long HIGH SPEED chase through

NEW YORK CITY?

I personally am finding that just a bit hard to believe (and apparently other people are thinking it's a bit of an exaggeration as well).

[neonzx]

They are claiming that there was a TWO HOUR long HIGH SPEED chase through

NEW YORK CITY?

I personally am finding that just a bit hard to believe (and apparently other people are thinking it's a bit of an exaggeration as well).

Nobody who has been to NYC would believe such a tale. On a foot chase, maybe... but in a vehicle? Nope.

[pipistrelle]

They are claiming that there was a TWO HOUR long HIGH SPEED chase through

NEW YORK CITY?

I personally am finding that just a bit hard to believe (and apparently other people are thinking it's a bit of an exaggeration as well).

They don’t say high speed, just chaotic. Running lights, zigzagging, etc. Dangerous for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

[roadscholar]

I've driven in NYC... and can imagine a chaotic two-hour chase during which they traveled six blocks.

[Suranis]

I have to admit my Bullshit meter started buzzing very loudly when I read that, but my conscious brain thought "There's no way even that publicity hound would make up something like that... Harry wouldn't go along with it, surely... right?"

[RTH10260]

[Gregg]

They are claiming that there was a TWO HOUR long HIGH SPEED chase through

NEW YORK CITY?

I personally am finding that just a bit hard to believe (and apparently other people are thinking it's a bit of an exaggeration as well).

Considering he had a police escort, a 2 hour high speed chase in NYC would have ended in Boston.

[Phoenix520]

Are y’all serious? Do you really think they’d make up something like that?!? FFS.

There are tunnels and bridges in NYC, maybe even just like the tunnel where his mum died.

[Gregg]

Are y’all serious? Do you really think they’d make up something like that?!? FFS.

There are tunnels and bridges in NYC, maybe even just like the tunnel where his mum died.

Manhattan is 20 miles one way and 2 miles the other. You can walk from Harlem to the Battery in well under 2 hours.

[p0rtia]

How to say y'all didn't read what actually happened without saying y'all didn't read it.

[Azastan]

How to say y'all didn't read what actually happened without saying y'all didn't read it.

How to say 'the first headlines seen were wildly wrong' and those headlines corrected later after rushing to be the first with the news' (thus recreating a disaster).

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... omplicated


"New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, while condemning the paparazzi as “reckless” and “irresponsible”, similarly characterized the incident as less dramatic than the Sussexes described and cast doubt on the supposed time-frame. “I would find it hard to believe that there was a two-hour high speed chase,” Adams said. A fair point since a two-hour high-speed chase in Manhattan is near impossible unless it’s 4am on a Sunday or Vin Diesel is behind the wheel. However, as Adams noted, even a 10-minute pursuit would be “extremely dangerous in New York City”."

[Gregg]

There is video of a chase so nearly catastrophic that the driver at one point got out of the car to look at the traffic they were tied up in.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/sorry-har ... ly-in-nyc/

[Suranis]

Apparently it was an "insider" who said there was a massive car chase with Paparazzi with lots of special effects. And then the police said there wasn't. So, it would be irresponsible to speculate on who the Insider was, and which Prince she married.

[RTH10260]

Your trusted government worker - ahem minister - at work ...

Braverman ‘asked civil servants for help’ after being caught speeding
The home secretary faces calls for inquiry into reports she asked for special treatment after being issued a speeding notice

David Connett
Sat 20 May 2023 21.40 BST

The Home Secretary is facing calls for an inquiry into reports she asked Home Office civil servants to help secure her special treatment after being caught speeding.

Suella Braverman allegedly asked Home Office officials to organise a one-to-one driving awareness course after she was caught speeding last summer.

The bespoke arrangement meant she would not have had to attend an in-person course with other motorists, or an online course where her name could be seen by other drivers.

Civil servants refused the request but were so concerned they reported the matter to the Cabinet Office. Braverman instead turned to a political aide to try and arrange the course without revealing her identity.

Completing the course would have meant the Home Secretary avoided points on her licence.

The requests were refused, the Sunday Times reported, and Braverman later chose to avoid the course completely and accepted three penalty points on her driving licence.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... t-speeding

[RTH10260]

from her political career:

Braverman was appointed attorney general for England and Wales and advocate general for Northern Ireland by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the February 2020 cabinet reshuffle; she was appointed as Queen's Counsel automatically on her appointment.

[RTH10260]

what privatized utilities cost the consumers in the UK (apart from dirty coastal waters)

‘The whole thing stinks’: UK water firms to pay £15bn to shareholders as customers foot sewage bill
With cost of cleanup to be passed on to bill payers, analysis shows they will also pay £624 more by 2030 to fund investor payouts

Sandra Laville
Sat 20 May 2023 16.54 BST

Water companies will pay an estimated £14.7bn in dividends by the end of this decade, while making customers pay for new investment to stem the tide of sewage pollution in seas and rivers, analysis for the Observer has revealed.

Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron denounced the billions going to shareholders as “absolutely scandalous” while families struggling with the cost of living would be facing increases in bills to pay for the sewage cleanup.

“The whole thing stinks,” said Farron, Lib Dem spokesperson on the environment. “This is their mess, they should be the ones to clean it up – not hard-working families.

“The Conservative government needs to stop sitting on their hands and force water companies to use their unearned and unjustified profits to fix the sewage crisis.”

According to analysis by David Hall, visiting professor at the public services international research unit at Greenwich University, dividend payments by the nine English water and sewerage companies, based on 2022 prices, will cost customers £624 each by 2030.

Hall examined annual dividends paid by companies between 2010 and 2022, which average £1.83bn a year. He said all companies have stated policies to reassure investors that they would get good dividends every year. “That implies a total of £14.67bn would be taken in dividends between 2023 and 2030.”

After intense criticism of water companies from campaigners and politicians over the routine dumping of raw sewage into rivers and coastal waters over many years, the industry body, Water UK, last week made a public apology on behalf of the privatised water industry.




https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/ ... ewage-bill?

[Dave from down under]

I’d like to register my appreciation that the public servants did their jobs as expected regardless.