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Flooding and drought?

Great thread this. Cynicism rules and with good reason!
 
Howard Hutchins said:
5 years ago was paying £380 per annum for my water....unmetered.

Moved house,and metre fitted,my last years bill was £240.

The sooner we all have metres fitted the better,as why the hell should a family of
8 who sqaunder water pay the same as me and the missus who use it sparingly.

River levels in the Great Ouse through Buckinghamshire rose during the rainfall on Friday and have begun to rise again due to heavy rainfall on Saturday (27th April) and Sunday (28th April). River levels are expected to rise further as they respond to the continued accumulations of rain. At this point only low-lying land and roads near to the river are likely to be affected, but we will monitor the situation closely and issue further Flood Alerts and Flood Warnings if the situation changes.

I don't mean to be too critical Howard, because you absolutely are entitled to your opinion....but read the facts in Jons third link. It is a long paper, and hard going at times, but it is well worth the effort. The behaviour of the major water company's, the inexplicable laxity and turning of a blind eye on the part of OFWAT and others, and the parts played by successive governments in all this makes deeply disturbing reading. The whole country...no, the whole world has been running on borrowed money for a long time know, and the inevitable 'come uppence' is there for all to see, with national economies slowly unravelling at the seams. The farce of the water companies will no doubt be just another 'disaster-gate' when eventually it's turn to be under the microscope rumbles along. Which of course means another round of 'bail-outs' and consequently more cuts and belt tightening. Unless you are a bank or water company executive....then of course you will largely be unaffected by this, because you will probably live abroad, and have a bank balance that will see you through very nicely.

06:41 on 29 Apr 2012

Grafham water should be on the way up
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Conversely Howard....why the hell should I be forced into having a water meter I don't want, just because you think it's a good idea? Works both ways fella.

Your point was addressed earlier, if you had read the thread :rolleyes: It may well be cheaper NOW if you have a meter and use water sensibly....but what happens when both you and the water companies have their way, and we are ALL finally on meters. What do you think they will do then, them being monopoly suppliers and all?

Yes, they are supposed to be strictly regulated and all that, but had you read all the disturbing facts in Jon Whelans excellent links, you would have seen that that doesn't actually have any meaningful effect at all. Add to that the huge debts they have, which WILL need paying before too long I would think....and then add in this governments strategies so far....then that question is 1000% self answering.

I am sorry if I am being too critical hear Howard, because you are absolutely entitled to your opinion. However, I do think you should try and read the paper in Jons third link, it really is an eye opener. It is a long read, and hard going in places, but I think well worth the effort. The behaviour of the major privatised water companies since '89, the inexplicable and unbelievable 'blind eye turning' of OFWAT and others, and the implied complicity of successive governments, is deeply disturbing, and the inevitable consequences very worrying. This country....nay, this world...has been existing on borrowed money for a long time now, and the come-uppence is there for all to see, with national economies unravelling at the seams all around us. This farce of the water company's will no doubt eventually be the next 'disaster-gate' to hit us, with huge government bail-outs required, and subsequent cuts and belt tightening all round to pay for it. Unless you happen to be a bank or water company executive of course....because they will undoubtedly be living abroad, with a bank account that will see them through this 'spot of bother' very nicely.......

Cheers, Dave.
 
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I am sorry if I am being too critical hear Howard, because you are absolutely entitled to your opinion.

David, correct,and thats my opinion.
Sorry to say whatever you spend your hard earned on,someone somewhere is making a killing,gas/electric/housing/ in fact anything,its what happens less you live in Russia or China,nothing is free in this day and age,and you and perhaps i,should
give some thought to where we are stashing the thousands of pounds we are banking,and the millions made by the fat cats at the top,may be better to dig a hole
and bury it in the garden:D

As for the water metres,why the hell sdhould i go un-metretred,and pay exactly
the same as a family using 10 times more than i.

Using your principle,perhaps we can do similar with petrol,all paying the same
Yearly......would suit me.....2 cars ....1 van.....2 motorbikes....id be quids in :D
 
Yeah and look at how the price at pertrol pumps has gone up and up and up. There is nothing the consumer can do and it is called profitering (sp).

Electric and gas go up and up and there is nothing we can do about.
People like DG are trying to get you to question the status quo instead of being the turkey that votes for Christmas.
 
Ash Gould said:
Yeah and look at how the price at pertrol pumps has gone up and up and up. There is nothing the consumer can do and it is called profitering (sp).

Electric and gas go up and up and there is nothing we can do about.
People like DG are trying to get you to question the status quo instead of being the turkey that votes for Christmas.
Click to expand...

Right so who/what caused The existing condition or state of affairs of this country,
that has been no different for years,was it us who voted tory (rich fat cats) who invested very little in the uk,or us who voted Labour,same (rich fat cats) who also invested not very much,and left it to rich businessmen to swell their coffers with very little investment.......who you going to vote for at the next election???:D

Next time your cars hits a pothole......think to youself,why,when your paying exorbitant fees for fuel,and road tax,where did the money go,it went to uk coffers,unlike our water bill profits...........that in my opinion, in relation to what we use aint to bad:D

Ps Blame maggie thatcher and the idiots who voted for her,as she was responsable for the first water privatisation,and the worst cases of the poor getting poorer in the uk
 
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Howard Hutchins said:
Right so who/what caused The existing condition or state of affairs of this country,
that has been no different for years,was it us who voted tory (rich fat cats) who invested very little in the uk,or us who voted Labour,same (rich fat cats) who also invested not very much,and left it to rich businessmen to swell their coffers with very little investment.......who you going to vote for at the next election???:D

Next time your cars hits a pothole......think to youself,why,when your paying exorbitant fees for fuel,and road tax,where did the money go,it went to uk coffers,unlike our water bill profits...........that in my opinion, in relation to what we use aint to bad:D

Ps Blame maggie thatcher and the idiots who voted for her,as she was responsable for the first water privatisation,and the worst cases of the poor getting poorer in the uk
Click to expand...

Hi Howard,

Seems we are finding a lot of common ground here....I too will be at a loss as to who to vote for next time round as politicians are, as you suggest, pretty well there to line their own pockets, with little or no thought about the good of the country crossing their corrupt little minds. The colour of their ties sadly no longer seems to affect that, even if it once did.

Also, I couldn't agree more about the odious Maggie Thatcher. The destruction she wrought on the slowly improving lot of the working man, and the 'Eff you jack, I'm all right' mind set that she promoted are still blighting our society to this day. As you say, she started the recovery of the old Tory ideology that, put simply, means that 'In order for the rich to get richer, the poor must get poorer.'

However, I don't understand the bit in the middle :confused: You seem to be saying that you prefer the water companies, because their (apparent) profits go to shareholders, many of whom are foreigners.....whereas the income from petrol and road tax is put into the nations coffers. However unfairly the government allocate that last pot of money, I fail to see why you think that worse than the profits from our water sales flowing abroad, or into the pockets of home bred 'fat cats'. Can't follow that at all :eek:

Just out of interest, the following link points to yet another example of dishonest manipulation of the present metered utility prices. It seems that blatant and cynical overcharging of loyal customers has been used by our suppliers to finance the wonderful offers that they use to attract new customers. Isn't that nice? Shades of things to come once our water companies achieve their long term objective of having everyone on meters as well, do you think :rolleyes:

Energy companies over charge 5m ?sticky? customers

(In case you hadn't worked it out, 'Sticky customers' is the cynical term used to describe loyal customers....such a lovely lot, our energy suppliers :mad:)

Gosh....I can hardly wait :eek:

Cheers, Dave.
 
prefer the water companies, because their (apparent) profits go to shareholders, many of whom are foreigners.....whereas the income from petrol and road tax is put into the nations coffers. However unfairly the government allocate that last pot of money, I fail to see why you think that worse than the profits from our water sales flowing abroad, or into the pockets of home bred 'fat cats'. Can't follow that at all

David, i was trying to say............not very well perhaps,that profits from water
going to foreigners,(who have invested some)aint half as bad as profits made by british companies,,is wholly going to fat cats pockets and nil investment,or government taxation is wasted
by propping up banks,or sent as aid to countries who can afford to build nuclier
weapons or send rockets to the moon.

And though ive worked all my life,rip off my pension :D to support less deserving causes:D
 
Hi Howard,

I certainly hear what you are saying about our government forcing aid on a country that has publicly declared that they don't want it fella. In fact, that country has said that they see it as a condescending slight and an insult to them, and a stupid waste of money on our part. And yet....our government STILL insist that they have it...and yes, that country does indeed have a nuclear weapon system, and a huge conventional armed forces network as well:(

I agree mate....you really do have to wonder why our government seems intent on giving our money away, just as fast as they can grab it from us in the form of 'essential austerity measures' :mad: I begin to wonder how long it will be before these 'third world countries' start giving us aid and sending us food parcels :rolleyes:

And the pension bit...aint that the truth fella. Not having a company pension, my wife and I invested in a private one, and diligently paid into it for the best part of 30 years. A registered IFA then proceeded to lose virtually all of it for us (As they so often do/did...I realise that we are FAR from being alone in this desperate state of affairs) Again, my thanks go to the government registered and monitored financial systems/agencies....what would we do without your protection :rolleyes:

Fair enough then Howard, we may have to agree to disagree on the finer details....but basically we have the same gripes mate :p Watch out though fella...before you know it, we will be labeled as 'leftist loonies' for daring to speak up :p

Cheers, Dave.
 
Fair enough then Howard, we may have to agree to disagree on the finer details....but basically we have the same gripes mate Watch out though fella...before you know it, we will be labeled as 'leftist loonies' for daring to speak up

Cheers, Dave.

Dave dunno about a leftie,but many do think im a loony:D

Nice to have a disagreement, with friendly banter though,but ill now leave it to folk
with better politcal knowledge than myself.

Howard
 
Howard Hutchins said:
Fair enough then Howard, we may have to agree to disagree on the finer details....but basically we have the same gripes mate Watch out though fella...before you know it, we will be labeled as 'leftist loonies' for daring to speak up

Cheers, Dave.

Dave dunno about a leftie,but many do think im a loony:D




Howard
Click to expand...
Reggie Perrin - Forces of anarchy - YouTube
and foreign owned water company's.:D
 
Asset Stripping

Looks like channel4 has put the cat amongst the pigeons and exposed Thames Water for Asset Stripping and selling off 25 water storage reservoirs since they were privatised in 1989. Another huge reservoir planned to be built at Abingdon was cancelled in 2011 by the UK government!;)
The final bit in the video clip explains this!
Catch up - Channel 4 News
 
where's that brian?.it's not throop is it....:eek:
anyway, it's the wrong type of water...lol
 
Hi Dave,
yes it is mate, the water is everywhere, there is not one path that is walkable, mind you i have seen it worse than that, at the moment you would not think there was a weir, the water is coming through straight.
Brian.
 
Brian Willson said:
Hi Dave,
yes it is mate, the water is everywhere, there is not one path that is walkable, mind you i have seen it worse than that, at the moment you would not think there was a weir, the water is coming through straight.
Brian.
Click to expand...
well that will clear out the mill pool, last season, it was more like a village pond.
 
And............ "Governments across the EU need to act decisively, and grasp the nettle of allowing the cost of water to rise where other measures fail to overcome water scarcity. Here in the UK, the Government cannot wait 15 years to reform the water abstraction regime when it is clear that over-abstraction is already doing ecological damage to more than one in 10 of our rivers."
 
I have read some great things on this thread, very knowledgable, and informative. I just wonder are any of you writing to MP`s and getting the messages to the right ears?? Not that I am sure who`s the right ear would be, but I would be glad to sign some kind of petition asking for further investigation by ombadsman etc into where water and its profits are really going, and the management of water.
 
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