13 Aug 2026
Image description: Panoramic views of Hertfordshire’s rural heartland. The short-cut agricultural grass is yellowed and dry. Image credits: Photo by Jan Kraus on Unsplash 45 million people in England now experiencing drought Drought conditions in England have continued to persist with a dry start to August, putting almost three-quarters of England in drought, affecting […]
11 Aug 2026
Photo by Saul Brotheridge A public consultation on the Jackdaw gas field, east of Aberdeen, closed on 10 August, with a consultation on the neighbouring Rosebank oil field, off Shetland, set to close on 17 August. Both consultations covered updated environmental impact assessments for the two fields, and attention now turns to Prime Minister […]
05 Aug 2026
Photo credit: Gio L A group of Labour MPs and regional mayors has urged the prime minister to turn failing water companies into not-for-profit cooperatives, presenting the idea as a middle path between full nationalisation and the status quo. The proposal, set out in a report from the Good Growth Foundation, a think tank […]
23 Jul 2026
Photo credit: Luis Tosta The consortium of creditors that has effectively controlled Thames Water since its shareholders wrote down their investment in 2024 has put forward a revised rescue proposal aimed at averting nationalisation by the new Andy Burnham administration. Under the plan, ministers would be offered a golden share in the company, described by the […]
14 Jul 2026
Photo credit: Adobe Stock A North Sea industry body has written to every Labour MP calling for more domestic oil and gas production, timing its appeal to the arrival of Andy Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister within days. The letter from Offshore Energies UK, co-signed by a range of business organisations and the GMB […]
11 Jun 2026
Image description: A pole with a sign that says polling station. Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s mayor and Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election, has said public ownership of Thames Water is the right approach, citing the company’s pattern of regulatory failures and ongoing financial crisis. Speaking to Newsnight, he […]