I need 100,000 signatures to win a parliamentary debate about the ownership of the water industry. Do your thing internet. petition.parliament.uk/petit…

All hail @PrivateEyeNews Brilliant story about how one of the proposed new owners of Thames Water is offering up a £25 million "Community Benefit Trust" (CBT) to "support" local environment and community groups but only on condition that TW are exempt from environment law and any threat of prosecution for at least the next 5 years. In other words we'll pay a £25 million bribe to local river groups and charities to shut them up, it's hush money, it's blood money, it's a bride. The Evenlode Catchment Partnership (ECP) knows better of course, they've already handed back £135K to Thames Water after they realised they were simply been used and the only people benefiting from the arrangement was Thames Water. Other river charities would do well to follow ECP's example, don't accept the hush money, don't accept the blood money, it is after all nothing more than a bribe.

I wonder does the Secretary of State for the Environment understand yet what his staff have just done to his credibility?