Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: From the Guardian today, the above and: Customer complaints over water bills surge by 50% in England and Wales – Number of households complaining rises to 16,000 in 2025, with Southern Water the biggest target. Complaints about water companies in England and Wales to an independent monitor surged by more than 50% last year, as customers bristled at steep bill increases. More than 16,000 complaints were lodged in 2025 with the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), a government-sponsored body that represents customers’ interests.1 Scottish Water does not publish broken-down complaints, but for all complaints, … Continue reading England, the only country in the world with a fully privatised water system gets nearly FOUR times as many complaints about water bills

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Today, in the Guardian: Home Office to launch ‘British FBI’ to deal with serious crime UK-wide – National Police Service will investigate organised crime, terrorism, fraud and online child abuse. The government is setting up a National Police Service – dubbed the “British FBI” – to deal with organised crime, terrorism, fraud and online child abuse in a major change to policing in England and Wales. The new organisation, which will be announced by the Home Office in a white paper on Monday, means fraud, criminal gang and UK-wide counter terror investigations will no longer be carried … Continue reading The Home Office would do better to just copy Scotland than set up a ‘British (sic) FBI’

You may remember previous reports here of the troubles at Washington State Ferries, based in one of the most affluent states in the USA. A third of the fleet out of service, missed doctor appointments, hours-long delays, students unable to get to school and flooded car decks look like continuing as Washington State Ferries delays new electric ferries and now they may bring aging old diesels back into service. From the Kitsap Sun today: Washington State Ferries is taking a hard look at a pitch from a shipyard owner to refurbish two of the state’s deteriorated retired ferries and return … Continue reading US ferry company to consider making up for shortages by bringing a near 70 year-old retired boat back into service – Imagine that idea in Scotland where our oldest boat is 43?