A few things have attracted my interest recently which I think are worthy of comment and/or ridicule.
Let's start with water:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4nn46rjej6o
BBC wrote:BBC uncovers 6,000 possible illegal sewage spills in one year
Every major English water company has reported data suggesting they’ve discharged raw sewage when the weather is dry – a practice which is potentially illegal.
BBC News has analysed spills data from nine firms, which suggests sewage may have been discharged nearly 6,000 times when it had not been raining in 2022 - including during the country’s record heatwave.
Water companies can release untreated sewage into rivers and seas when it rains to prevent it flooding homes, but such spills are illegal when it’s dry.
Nobody cares about the environment, the people, the law . . . Certainly not the outgoing government.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cneevz8278eo
also the BBC wrote:Tory candidate tells BBC election bet was 'huge error of judgement'.
Conservative candidate Craig Williams has apologised and said he made a "huge error of judgement" over betting on the date of the next general election.
Mr Williams, who was an aide to the prime minister in the last Parliament, is alleged to have placed a £100 bet on a July election three days before Rishi Sunak announced the 4 July poll.
Unfortunately, this doesn't beggar belief; what fine upstanding people are Conservative MPs. I wonder what odds he got on his £100 flutter, it's probably slipped his memory. But, he's apologised so it's all OK now I guess.
New law quashes convictions of Scottish sub-postmasters
Sub-postmasters in Scotland who were wrongly convicted as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal have been automatically exonerated.
Emergency legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament has been given Royal Assent and came into force on Friday.
It means anyone convicted of embezzlement, fraud or theft in connection with Post Office business between 1996 and 2018 have had their convictions quashed and are eligible for compensation.[/quote]
Scots dragging their heels a bit there but better late than never.
I've been following the Horizon Inquiry quite closely and some of it has been good viewing. The Post Office is of course, wholly owned by the government so it should be no surprise that it was badly run. Paula Vennels and many others have got to be prosecuted, at the very least for perverting the course of justice. However I suspect that as soon as charges are laid there's going to be a significant increase in diagnoses of dementia and Alzheimers only for the afflicted to make miraculous recoveries when it is announced they are unfir to stand trial.
Ol' Wynn Williams, the judge in charge comes across a lot of the time as a friendly old uncle who's probably a bit senile but he's far from it. This is one of my favourite bits (there's a 5 minute video clip of just this bit of her giving evidence but I can't find it at the moment):
4.35pm: She was so close to getting through to the finish, but Sir Wyn Williams wants a final question. He asks of the briefing note to the select committee: 'You were being advised to be very precise, circumspect and guarded about what you said. You would agree?'
Vennells: 'Yes.'
Williams: 'That was the effect trying to be created by those creating that document?'
Vennells: 'It could be.'
Williams: 'Why?'
There follows a long pause where Vennells is again brought to tears. After a minute or so, she recovers herself and replies: 'I could be too trusting of people. I took the information I was given and went into a select committee. From what I know now it may be other people knew more than I did and they were trying to direct me to answer in a certain way.'
Vennells is admitting to being spectaculary incompetent or she's lying. Your choice.
Almost every day stuff comes up on the BBC that shows the UK is broken. 14 years of Tory mismanagement, incompetence and floundering and 14 years of Opposition incompetence. I haven't read the manifestos but I doubt any of them state how they're going to actually fix things.