A VIEW FROM THE WHAT IS NOW THE FRONT

I receive this email comment in respect of my previous blog from Bob in California. He is an old friend and graduate of the third listed best law school in the United States, the University of Chicago. It is just off the Midway Pleasance in South Chicago. I visited him there in February of 1965. We were together on the 21^st February 1965 on the day Malcolm X was assassinated in New York.  The Nation of Islam’s Temple No:2 was located only a few blocks to the north on South Greenwood Avenue, a mere 4 minute drive away. I recall that I was in need of some aspirin and we drove around to find a convenient drug store. I seem to recall, we passed by the Nation of Islam  residence, very heavily guarded in the light of expected repercussions due to the event in New York earlier in the day. The building was later revealed to have been under surveillance by the FBI during the sixties. Just a bit of historical background. Herewith his comments.

 

“Well, Ed, here’s the scoop on the Court.  Trump appointed three “justices”, all of whom were put up by the Federalist Society, a right wing organization run by Leonard Leo. The organization cultivates their candidates through college/law school and ultimately into the judiciary. The Society is funded by right-wing billionaires, who continue to wine and dine their justices once on the Court with lavish vacations and other gifts, including a very expensive motor home ultimately given to Justice Clarence Thomas. Not counting Roberts, there are 5 of these right-wing hacks on the Court, who will do the bidding of the supporters of the Society, who consider it in their best interests if a Republican is elected to the Presidency. One of the billionaires is a Nazi memorabilia collector!

So, if you are looking for any real legal reasoning for any of their decisions, save your eyesight. It’s all political. Problem is that in order to impeach any of them, it would take a majority of the US House of Reps to vote for the impeachment petition, and 2/3 of the US Senate to remove a justice. So, they act without any ethics rules that bind them to be honest, and instead act in the interests of their patrons.

Thanks to Trump, we’re stuck with these posers.

 

I did not know that Frank Morgan was on the Court at one time. Apparently, being the Wizard of Oz was a prerequisite! Who knew?”

 

That February of 1965 saw one of the severest snow storms in the Midwest. I can’t remember exactly which Hall of Residence Bob lived in. It might have been Goodspeed or Wieboldt Hall or neither. Whatever it was, it was very cold and heated by very old fashion radiators that sucked all the humidity out of the air. I drove off back to LA the next day and was caught in a snowstorm in the Ozarks on what is now, and maybe then, Highway 44. Somewhere between St Louis and Springfield Missouri, the windscreen wipers on the car could only sweep across 4 or 5 inches of windscreen there was so much snow. A short while later the car just stopped and was apparently dead.. I was fortunate in that it was at a crossroads near a gas station and got a tow from a guy at the station who had been pulling cars off the road practically all day. Once under cover in the garage I could see the car was covered in a sheet of ice and there were blocks of ice around the wheels with about a millimetre of space between the ice and the tyre. Effectively I had been driving in a block of ice for some time.  It came to a halt because the petrol had frozen in the in the carburettor, also encased in ice. I took off quite a while later when things were a bit clearer and the ice cube round the car had melted. The deluge had stopped and there were clear skies. A bit further down the road though the highway itself was completely covered in a sheet of black ice and the car spun round 360 degrees. I had noted a number of HGVs jack-knifed on the side of the highway on my way. I managed to pull off at a place called “The Oasis Motel”. 

 

But all that’s another story. Indeed the United States is full of stories but none, at the moment, as important as what is happening to the rule of law. I thank Bob for his comments and wish they were more optimistic in tone. Perhaps it is just another conspiracy theory, but it sounds quite plausible to me. 

 

Herewith a current promotional film for the Law School and its surrounds:

 

THE SUPINE COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

What is wrong with the citizens of the United States of America? The greatest threat to their entire existence as a democracy is taking place within its Supreme Court. That they should even be considering the question of total immunity for the President is unspeakable. Ruminating over the matter and listening to the outrageous and ludicrous arguments put forward by Mr Trump’s attorneys surely should make them cringe with embarrassment. That any self-respecting officer of any court in any democracy in the entire world should even contemplate such preposterous nonsense, for even a millisecond, is a disgrace.  

 

That there should even be a hearing is an outrage and that the justices should retire to consider the matter is indicative of a loss of dignity and respect for the office they hold. They have been reduced to a sham court. The very notion of referring to themselves as Supreme is at rock bottom. They are as base as they come for allowing this farrago of absurdity to continue, knowing full well what they are doing is allowing their protégé to evade the justice he deserves. What else can Mr Trump be but their puppet master? They have no shame. If ever a group of justices forswore credibility the Most Inferior and Worst Court of the United States has been supreme in the endeavour.

 

Whilst students rage, across campuses all over the United States, against the horrors in Palestine, on the assumption that the United States has the power to bring matters to a swift conclusion, they ignore the very grave possibility that the United States will cease to exist as a democratic state with any influence whatsoever. Indeed why are there no equally vocal demonstrations taking place at every law school from Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Duke, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Columbia, New York, Northwestern, Michigan, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Cornell, Georgetown, Minnesota and Texas? These are the top seventeen ranking campuses listed under Best Law Schools 2024 and cover the country.  There are, apparently, 16,810 full time students enrolled at these institutions at the present time, plus another 2800 part time. That’s 19000 silent voices. What about the practicing legal profession?  Are there no dissenters to this charade taking place as we speak/write? This insanity should be making real headlines across the country instead of just another story on the News.

 

What can possibly be supreme about the current Supreme Court of the United States? Nul Point partout. 

This film might be a reminder:

 

A NOD TO NUMEROLOGY

Apart from Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, on the 5th November 1605 there are a few times when the marking of the event coincides with presidential elections in the United States on the first Tuesday in November (excluding the 1^st November being All Saints Day).  Whether that is an ominous circumstance or a fortuitous omen is yet to be seen.

 

So far as the United States is concerned, the first coincidence occurred on Tuesday 5^th November 1776, the year of the birth of the country and the Declaration of Independence. Tuesday the 5^th November occurs once every 28 years, save for a period between 1872 and 1912 when it took 40 years to come round. The next Tuesday 5^th November in an election year will be 2052, followed by 2080, then another period of 40 years to 2120, if the United States is still in existence.

 

Following on from 1776, the first actual presidential election in the United States occurring on the 5^th November was in 1816 with the election of James Monroe who was in the Democratic-Republican Party. The Democratic-Republican Party, was the first opposition political party in the United States. Organized in 1792 as the Republican Party, its members held power nationally between 1801 and 1825. It was the direct antecedent of the present Democratic Party. Monroe was the fifth President and was responsible for the Monroe Doctrine, a warning to European Nations against intervening in the Western Hemisphere. Stay out of the American continent.

 

The next election of Tuesday the 5^th November was in 1844. James Knox Polk a Democrat and the 11^th President. He was actually born on the 2^nd November 1795 and so was just 49 when elected. During his term of office the United States fought the Mexican War (1846-48) acquiring the territories along the Pacific coast and southwest.

 

On Tuesday 5^th November 1872, Ulysses S. Grant won a second term as the 18^th President. He served with distinction in the Mexican-American War and eventually led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War accepting General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. He was born Hiram  Ulysses Grant on 27^th of April 1822.  His father, Jesse Grant wrote to Representative Thomas L Hamer requesting that he nominate Ulysses to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Hamer nominated 17-year-old Ulysses to West Point in spring 1839. Grant was accepted on July 1. Unfamiliar with Grant, however, Hamer submitted an incorrect name. As a result, Grant was enlisted at West Point under the name "U. S. Grant". As the initials "U. S." also stood for "Uncle Sam", he became known amongst army colleagues as "Sam".

 

Of his achievements in office, on March 18, 1869, Grant signed into law equal rights for black people, to serve on juries and hold office, in Washington D.C., and in 1870 he signed the Naturalization Act that gave foreign black people citizenship.

 

The next election of Tuesday  5^th November was in 1912  when Woodrow Wilson, Democrat, was elected as the 28^th President. He was the leading advocate for the League of Nations and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. He served two terms as president. 

 

The next Tuesday 5^th November election was in 1940 with the 32^nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s election to a third term in office. Also a democrat. He was responsible for the New Deal which brought the country out of the great depression, along with the National Recovery Administration. Major surviving programs and legislation implemented under Roosevelt include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labour Relations Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security. His influence and leadership during the Second World war is to be noted.

 

There then comes the turbulent year of 1968 with the election of the 37^th President Richard Milhous Nixon of the Republican Party on Tuesday 5th November. Along with Henry Kissinger he opened diplomatic relations with China and concluded the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Leonid Brezhnev. General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Soviet Union. On the 26^th May 1972.  In that year of 1972, on the 17^th of June, five men were caught breaking into the Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. This led to the exposure of various nefarious activities within Mr Nixon’s administration and his eventual resignation from Office on the 9^th August 1974.

 

The last election to be held on a Tuesday 5^th November was in 1996, with the second election of the 42^nd President, Bill Clinton of the Democratic Party. He was born William Jefferson Clinton on the 19^th August 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. Clinton made various moves towards a national health care plan and some control over the possession of firearms, signing into law the Bray Bill in 1993 which mandated federal background checks on people who purchase firearms in the United States. The law also imposed a five-day waiting period on purchases.  He also expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, a subsidy for low-income workers. A time line of his presidency can be found at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Bill_Clinton_presidency.

 

A very fictional portrayal of his presidential campaign, Primary Colors was written by Joe Klein, political commentator and author, and made into a movie staring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Adrian Lester and Kathy Bates and many others.  Well worth a view.

 

The next election to be held on Tuesday  5^th November is in this year of elections 2024. This is the eighth time the coincidence has occurred. The first coincidence was during the birth of the nation.  Apart from the aberration of Richard Nixon in 1968 every other election has been won by the democratic party. If the omens are correct, it would appear to be a 7 to 1 chance that Mr Biden will be re-elected. Also if the problems arising from Mr Nixon’s election, such as the skulduggery of his subordinates, is in any way comparable to Mr Trumps criminal activities yet to be discovered (and I would be willing to wager there are some) then the electorate would be well advised to vote for someone other than Mr Trump. Just about anybody would be better.

 

So do we believe in fortuitous omens on the left, or ominous predictions from the right? Does some form of numerology apply in these circumstances? It would be nice to think that the omens are strongly in favour of Mr Biden, given the history of Tuesday the 5^th November in the United States.  As to Guy Fawkes, the 5^th  November 1605 was a Saturday.

DOES TRUMP WEAR A TRUSS ?

An interesting discussion on the problems of democracy on Radio 4’s Start The Week this morning. Tom Sutcliffe and guests explored the state of democracy. The political philosopher Erica Benner, anthropologist Alpa Shah and Bobby Duffy, director of Policy Institute at King’s College London, discussed the questions of ordinary citizens keeping democracy alive, how far democratic institutions are failing in India despite its long history of ancient councils of elders, whether faith in democracy still exists and the idea of Citizen Assemblies becoming more popular.

 

The discussion quite naturally centred on each individual guest’s current research as discussed in their latest books. Ms Benner’s was of a more general nature than the other two. En passant, discussion quite naturally mentioned the current state of affairs in the United States. This is a country that is becoming more and more undemocratic in its outlook in that, apparently, 36% of the population want an authoritarian or strong leader......(Mon 14 April 2024)

 

I had to break off from the above as I was diverted by other domestic matters. There are priorities to be dealt with; however, on waking this morning much of the news is taken up with Liz Truss’s memoir and an interview she gave to Chris Mason, political editor of BBC News. She is a complete disaster living in some world of her own. Why is she being given a platform to disgorge her nonsense?

 

She has declared support for Donald Trump for President of the United States. She claimed the world was safer under Trump. She claimed the world was "on the cusp of very, very strong conflict" and needed "a strong America more than ever". She also claimed that Trump was a supporter of Ukraine’s fight with the Russians, despite the fact that Trump’s acolytes in Congress are resisting paying for any more weapons for Ukraine. Trump has openly declared his admiration of Putin as has his strong supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene. How is it she sees and hears the opposite. On what planet is she living?

 

According to Mason, Ms. Truss argues “The environmental debate is ‘the single greatest example of Conservatives over the last few decades losing arguments to the left’ and claims plenty of environmentalists are watermelons – green on the outside. Red (i.e. socialists) on the inside. She argues the greatest threat to the environment is the “rise of authoritarian regimes”.

 

I presume she sees herself as a threat to the environment, since she is clearly a strong supporter of any authoritarian regime in that she wants to overturn the Human Rights Act, scrap the Supreme Court and dismantle the Judicial Appointments Commission, stating judicial appointments should lie with elected politicians.

 

How can any sane Western European politician support a man who is a proven liar, without a shred of integrity, already found wanting for deception and libel, and facing serious racketeering charges to which some of his co-defendants have already pleaded guilty. Any person with simple common sense hearing the telephone call between Mr Trump and an election official, wherein he tries to cajole and subtilely threaten said official to falsify the election results, would find it difficult to support this man. To, on the one hand, claim that the rise of authoritarian regimes are a threat, and to openly recommend an avowed authoritarian narcissist, is indicative of a serious mental disorder. Again, why is this person being given a platform?

 

Like Mr Trump she is a firm believer that her glaring failures are not of her own making but caused by others who have deliberately conspired against her. For Ms Truss, it is all “their” fault, whoever they may be. Civil Servants, bankers, economists and all those lefty lawyers, are collectively to blame for her inability to be the head of State she saw herself to be. Mr Trump has his own version of the same blame game. The difference is that very few in the United Kingdom believe her, and tragically for the world and the United States, too many American citizens believe him.

 

So much for the problems of democracy.

ON BECOMING DISENGAGED

I find myself in limbo. It is more of a feeling than an actual place, yet it is very much a state of being. This state where I am in, is probably the only place in which I have some control, although it is a state in which no control is required. The state of limbo is, I am quite sure, occupied by many people, and because it is so populace, we cannot see each other, although as we go about outside our homes, we occasionally recognise a fellow citizen of limbo from a comment they may make or from a look in their eye.  Some people deliberately go there and others, like myself, just find themselves there. It is a gradual shift, a sort of disengagement. It’s not stopping the world, but it is, sort of,  getting off it.

 

The French verb and phrase se dégager comes to mind.  It is a very useful and succinct way of expressing separation. It is useful for telling people politely to go away.  ‘Dégage!’ or, ‘Je me dégage’ is often heard in French films, usually spoken by some surly youth. In any event it is a passport to limbo. Je suis dégagé, or more correctly - Je suis désengagé.

 

This state of being disconnected is brought about by the endless frustration of repeatedly complaining about the state of the world and realising that one has no influence or power to do anything about it. Most of us are not politicians or public servants who are tasked by our governments to improve the situation and bring about co-operation and rational thinking. The desire to create a healthy, prosperous and peaceful existence, full of the joys and beauty of life, is clearly the main goal of our elected representatives; yet, the finding of common ground and equality is just as elusive as it has ever been.

 

Our democratic state tells us that each and every one of our votes is vital and will have great effect and bearing on our future as a result of the representatives we elect. So get out and vote. That is your power as an individual citizen. Even better, if you care so much, have the energy and the will, put yourself forward as well.

 

Not so easy, and one must have a powerful ambition to lead.  There’s the rub. Looking around the world, the calibre and quality of current leaders, and some prospective leaders, in powerful office is dismal. There are few democracies around the world where voting has any chance of bringing about real change or at least preventing a monumental political disaster. Most of the EU, the United Kingdom and North America, have had for some time (so I believe) fair and honest elections. There may be others, but there is no doubt that the coming election in the United States in November is of vital importance. Were the entire western world to have a vote then the outcome could possibly be predicted, but the vote is limited to citizens of the United States, and judging by the interviews one is exposed to over various parts of the media, the very possibility of a second Trump administration is cause for extreme anxiety.

 

As I do not have a vote I am disengaged from the process. I am disengaged from voting in all elections around the world, save the United Kingdom. Given the mode of elections in the UK, the only vote I have is to vote in the London Borough of Lambeth and Greater London. As to that, there are three Labour MPs for Lambeth, all of whom have solid Labour majorities. In a general election I can only vote in the Vauxhall Constituency.  As to more local government in Lambeth, that too is solidly Labour and my vote is limited to the Oval Ward of the constituency. My vote therefore is limited. I can vote for some local representatives directly but have no actual vote for the Prime Minister. I am in effect disconnected from the choice of leader.

 

Is it any wonder that I am in the state of limbo. There is the fiction in the United Kingdom that voters are electing a particular party to govern the country, and that it is the leader of the party who commands the vote of the electorate. It is through the leader that the voters elect a party representative, no matter what that representative is like. There is the assumption that all of a political party’s choice of representatives are merely cyphers. The fact that they are individuals does not matter. They are labels one votes for. Is that it? Is that how we are meant to vote? Vote for a party not the individual? We are voters without any say in when and how we have a general election, or any election for that matter. Voting for individuals makes little impact. Is it any wonder that I am disengaged.

 

There is of course the age old remark (not attributable to any one person) “If voting changed anything, it would be abolished”; however, I am not advocating abandoning the concept of voting. It is or can be a useful method of establishing the will and priorities of the majority, but that must be tempered with some care for the wishes and preferences of minorities. Universal suffrage is exactly that, and how we suffer in the doing of it. There is no one anywhere who does not, at some point in their lives, express a political opinion, some view as to how, where and when it is appropriate to behave in a specific way - in a manner that is generally deemed to be the most appropriate and least offensive - the most diplomatic. Overthinking this politically correct approach to life has led to much mirth and satire. It is not necessarily without merit. Careful and respectful communication can be very effective. And yet…

 

I know that I am not alone in the state of limbo. We can rage against the violence and mayhem in Ukraine, the Middle East, Myanmar, Yemen etc. We can listen to and watch intrepid reporters showing us and analysing the daily horrors, but can do nothing actually to stop it. Giving aid and sympathy to the grief stricken and the victims on the ground is laudable, but it is not stopping the carnage. Indeed the incessant and insistent news is never out of mind. How do I stop the constant internal screaming in my brain,  “STOP THIS INSANITY!”?  Is it any wonder that I am becoming disengaged?

YET MORE CRAP

I have been silent for a couple of weeks owing to the rather depressing nature of things around the world. Whilst some areas of the globe are actively engaged in violence and horrific death, elsewhere there appears to be stagnation. Western leaders make forceful statements indicating their displeasure at what is going on, but seem powerless to have any influence whatsoever.  Why does Mr Netanyahu not listen to Mr Biden et al. in the United States? Why is Mr Sunak hesitating on not supplying further weapons to the State of Israel?

 

According to UK defence export statistics for 2022 published on 17^th November 2023, by the Department of UK Defence and Security Exports, the United Kingdom had sold, on average, £4.5 Billion a year of defence exports to the Middle East alone, since 2017. That’s £22.5 bn in the last 5 years.  The same department claims that the United States has defence exports to the rest of the world of over $200 bn in the last five years. Clearly wars make money, and given a country’s requirements for funding its own welfare, business and security, that amount of income is hard to turn away from. Just how much of that trade stays in private hands or into the state coffers is another matter.

 

There is a hint of hypocrisy in summoning Israeli ambassadors to account for the IDF’s current admitted horrific mistake in killing British and international aid workers. What can possibly rectify such an error? What sort of compensation can be made and who will provide it? What is the point of the useless huffing and puffing of Foreign Secretaries, Secretaries of State, Presidents and Prime Ministers? We are no nearer a solution.

 

People have demonstrated throughout the world as well as in Israel itself to stop the war, indeed to stop all wars; yet, we have political stagnation. Our elected representatives seem unable to act and carry out the will of the people. What is the problem? What planet are we living on?

 

From what I see on YouTube and other media, those American citizens about to vote in November, appear more concerned with stopping immigration at the Mexican Border and giving support to a justly indicted blowhard attempting to bully his way into the presidency. How does he have the gall to say “There’s gonna be a bloodbath if I don’t get elected”? What has happened to America? Why is he still not on trial? How can the Judiciary allow such delay? For God’s sake America, get a grip!

 

As to the United Kingdom, the current Prime Minister is on a treadmill to Rwanda, in the belief that by some miracle his party’s inadequacy will disappear. He no longer sees the harm and damage he is causing the country with his stagnating terminal government. It is at the end of its tether. Why must we be dragged down with it?  He scoffs when asked ‘when will there be an election?’. Surely he must realise it’s what the people of this country desperately want. Why is he being so obtuse?

 

The country’s economy is all over the place. The saddest part is the poverty it is causing and the mendacity of businesses and companies taking advantage of the situation to increase their profits at the expense of the average citizen. Banker’s bonuses are no longer open to scrutiny; water companies having caused major damage and pollution, whilst pocketing huge dividends, now seek to increase prices to supposedly invest in cleaning up their mess; insurance companies are now charging exorbitant fees claiming increased risk owing to inflation.

 

In particular vehicle insurance is going through the roof, so to speak. In order to have a vehicle on the road, of any kind, there is a legal requirement that the driver be insured. This gives insurance companies virtually carte blanche to charge what they like. Owing to the increased expenditure now involved in settling the smallest claim, the cost of comprehensive insurance has skyrocketed to extortionate levels. It is as if the insurance companies are making drivers provide them with the full amount of any claim they might make down the line so that all the company has to do is settle the claim by giving the customer their own money back. They have become a sort of saving banks for road users. Save up for your own compensation and if you don’t make a claim, well thank you very much. The state is allowing insurance companies to charge you for taking your money and reluctantly giving some of it back and still pocketing the excess. That’s legally sponsored extortion. Make a claim and your premiums go up and up. 

 

How is that justified?  That not only applies to vehicles, but to all sorts of insurance. Is it any wonder that there are hundreds of insurance companies and agents. Money for old rope comes to mind, and the law allows it.

 

Our house insurance has almost trebled and a friend’s car insurance has risen to an astronomical £6000 for a year from £1000 odd for the previous year, and he has made no claim during his time with the insurance company.  

 

The following is from the Association of British Insurers website:

None of my circumstances have changed, my car is one year older, and I’ve still not claimed. So why has my motor cover price gone up?

We can understand why it might be frustrating or distressing to see prices rising when key factors such as your no-claims haven’t changed.

But recent premium rises in motor insurance have been driven by a sharp rise in the cost of claims, often at rates higher than inflation.

For example, the cost of vehicle repairs jumped 32%, with the cost of paint increasing 16%, spare parts up 11% and the cost of replacement cars increasing by 47%. These have been largely driven by the price of energy. These factors impact heavily what it costs to pay a claim for a theft or an accident. Paying claims for those customers that suffer a loss is the key part of an insurance policy.

Your quoted renewal price may also be impacted by reform in the way insurers price new and existing customers. See the below question for more details here.

Finally, as your price partly reflects the risks you face of having to claim in the future, it may be that your local area has seen more traffic accidents or thefts recently, which could mean your renewal quote is higher. Or it might be the case that your insurer’s data suggests the make or model of your vehicle has become riskier. Such factors are less likely to change quickly though, so should only account for a part of any changes, compared to bigger factors like inflation. There are also factors unrelated to risk to consider too, covered in our final FAQ below.

 

What they are saying in effect is that the customer pays the increases and the company’s profits are unaffected and consequently go up as a percentage of the increase. Insurance companies never lose money. They pay out on a claim and get it all back from the next set of premiums. Not a bad wheeze. The flimflam they give you about risk is just that, flimflam.

 

So where are we now? Your average law abiding citizen, going about their business ends up paying for everyone else’s bad behaviour in an economic system that benefits the few. The gap between the haves and have nots is widening. It is curious that migrants are fleeing countries that are described by the likes of Mr Trump and his acolytes as shit-holes. They seek to escape the crap that surrounds their lives. What appears to be happening is that the isolationist policies (Brexit – America First and other Nationalist right-wing thinking) is turning this country as well as the United States into shit-holes, which no doubt will soon see refugees going the other way. This current conservative government is doing everything it can to get us there. The very fact that water companies were given a licence to print money without any proper supervision has allowed them to dump crap all over the place.  Stockholders have benefited for years from treating this country like a toilet. Having fleeced the customers since privatisation, am I wrong in claiming that they now want the average law abiding customers to pay to clean up the mess? 

 

Just what has Ofwat been doing? On the website it states: …the website sets out how we will work with others for the benefit of customers of water and wastewater services and wider society in England and Wales both now and in the future.

 

So why have things got so bad people have to be warned not to go in the water because it can kill you, or certainly make you very sick? The web site also states:

Our strategy sets out our three strategic goals: To transform water companies’ performance; to drive water companies to meet long-term challenges through increased collaboration and partnerships; for water companies to provide best value and outcomes for customers, communities and the environment, now and in the future.

 

When does that start? Ofwat was formed on April 1^st, 1989. I guess it was an appropriate date and they have been fooling us for the last 35 years. Is it any wonder I find it difficult to sit down and write about nice things, and not go off on a rant every 5 minutes. Enough for now and perhaps more of this anon. I need to go to the loo.