News about Feargal Sharkey

After a week of dominated the boardroom at one of Britain's most polluting water firms, Chris Weston (left) prefers to switch off. At his £4 million Grade II-listed home in the rolling Kentish countryside, he might take a dip in the outdoor heated swimming pool. On other occasions, the former Army officer and avid fly fisherman can be seen casting lines on the banks of the county's trout-filled chalk streams. Anything to distract him from the escalating series of tragedies at Thames Water, which are now facing bankruptcy as a result of a £18 billion debt burden.

HARDCASTLE (EPHRAIM): Recovering Kate, who was unable to attend a Guinness toast on St Patrick's Day, ensured her favorite troops were well stocked at her expense on St Patrick's Day. She poured £2,000 behind the regimental bar at Aldershot for a party after the traditional parade, to their delight. According to my bacus, the thirsty troopers were treated to at least 700 pints of the black stuff at no cost. And did she specify that regimental mascot Seamus, the Irish wolfhound, should be treated to a jumbo bone?

MARCUS TOWNEND: The form guide to last week's Cheltenham Festival, I believe, started slowly but ended well. The fact that the attendance was up on Friday for a thrilling running of the Boodles Gold Cup with Galopin Des Champs delivering a show that would have graced any Festival does not distract from the problems that Jockey Club Racecourses, the owners of Cheltenham, need to address. Willie Mullins' nomination of the sport for one and the unpalatable increase of accommodation rates in the area by hotels and B&Bs are keeping some racegoers out of the game before they even consider purchasing tickets in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

As part of the government's initiative to install hundreds of new bathing water sites, swaths of river across England will be designated as swimming spots. According to the statistics, a total of 27 new bathing sites will be identified under the scheme, many of which are in rivers and lakes, greatly raising the number of such official inland swimming locations. Officials said that if selected, the sites would be subjected to regular water inspection by the Environment Agency, which will look at environmental sources and identify remediation steps taken in response. People would be able to see if it was safe to swim in the waters, which include popular 'wild swimming' spots. Last year, the Environment Department (Defra) said that 96 percent of bathing waters in England met minimum annual requirements, and 90 percent were rated as 'good' or 'excellent.'

Campaigners have slammed a Tory MP's 'ridiculous' advice to Britons not to flush the lool, take baths, or use washing machines during heavy rainfall in an attempt to prevent sewage leaks. After issuing advice on water use in a leaflet to local residents in Hampshire, Flick Drummond, MP for Meon Valley, sparked the controversy. In order to help manage sewer capacity, she urged people to be'more aware with how we use water during storms.' 'It would help if people didn't discharge wastewater, such as baths, flushing loos, and even during heavy downpours,' she said. We should all be more cautious in the midst of storms.' However, those who are outraged at water companies for routinely pouring sewage into rivers and the sea condemned Mrs Drummond's advice.

Lewis Pugh has smashed records in endurance swimming as a result of climate change awareness. He tells Samuel Fishwick what inspired him to go to such great lengths

To prevent pipe systems from being overwhelmed, businesses can drain sewage into waterways, but only when it has been raining. This is because the sewage is unlikely to dilute without the rainwater, which results in algae buildups, which result in algae buildups, which eventually leads to algae buildups, which result in toxic chemicals that endanger both swimmers and pets. According to BBC reports, Thames, Southern, and Wessex illegally released sewage on dry days 388 times last year, including at times when regions were drought and even on the hottest day on record on July 19, 2022, when temperatures hit 40 degrees.

After discovering singing hero Sir Tom Jones in Kelly's kitchen, stereophonics actor Kelly Jones recalled the time his neighbor was left stunned. Singer Kelly, 49, has been a good friend of fellow Welshman Sir Tom, 83, since 1997 and has once welcomed him back to his house for a few drinks after a television appearance. During his stay in Kelly's house, Sir Tom gave an impromptu kitchen performance of some of his most popular hits to his friends.

Yorkshire Water clearly doesn't have a clue about the county it serves, as shown by its latest social media media advertising campaign. The video to promote water saving featured a video of the green Malvern Hills rather than showing clips of the stunning Yorkshire Dales or moors. Rather than displaying one of thousands of friendly bars, the corporation featured a barman in a deserted bar in Russia. A motorist in a left-hand-drive vehicle was shot in Ukraine in another scene.

As public outrage over river contamination and ongoing water leaks, it was revealed last night that nine water companies' bosses had been paid £13 million in only one year. As questions swirl around Thames Water's future, critics have dismissed the pay packages of the UK's top water bosses as 'excessive.' After Sarah Bentley, the firm's £2 million-a-year chief executive, announced her surprise departure on Wednesday, the agency, which serves 15 million customers, is now in emergency talks with the government and the water authority Ofwat about a multibillion cash injection.

Politicians and activists have slammed Ofwat Regulators, who have expressed skepticism about Thames Water's "financial stability." Due to financial issues surrounding its £14 billion debt pile, the government is considering a potential taxpayer bailout if it fails. Ofwat, which has been accused of being a 'asleep at the wheel,' has sparked a barrage of smuggling. Thames Water, Britain's top tenant, has'significant issues to fix' in several areas, the regulator reported yesterday morning. Following Sarah Bentley's surprise departure as Thames Water's chief executive this week, several of these have come to an end.

Steve Mogford's sum since he took over as CEO in 2011 is thought to be a record for the water industry. According to documents, it would have been even higher if he hadn't handed over a "relevant" portion of his compensation last year. United, the monopoly water provider to 7 million people in north-west England, came under fire last week for a massive raw sewage dump that resulted in a 14-mile stretch of coastline around Blackpool being closed to bathers.

My brother was able to enjoy a day of fishing but was forced to abandon it after a run-off from a nearby construction site polluted the river. This was Scotland's Royal Dee, one of the world's most celebrated salmon grounds. My brother was beating near Birkhall, the beloved Aberdeenshire home that King Charles inherited from his grandmother. Recently, anti-pollution campaigners in the UK have screamed in response to a £20 billion pledge from the water companies to reform their act. First, apologise for years of sewage leaks sullying our seawater and rivers, as shown by Feargal Sharkey, the former Undertones frontman and passionate angler who has heightened concerns of the fragile waterways of the United Kingdom's once pristine waters.

FEARGAL SHARKEY: One simple statistic drives me mad, and I suspect you of doing the same. Water companies have been dumping sewage into the rivers and along the coastlines of England and Wales for about 7.5 million hours over the past three years. There is no way of knowing how many millions - perhaps billions - of tons of garbage it represents. Nine English water firms banded together over the fact that this deluge of filth was not being done quickly enough. Apologies aren't any more hollow. Where is the apology for the years of multi-million-pound bonuses paid to underperforming, incompetent executives?Where is the apology for the past conduct of these companies - and for their arrogant refusal to face scrutiny?And where is the apology for poisoning our water supply?

The DAILY MAIL COMMENT: The dread of machines taking our jobs goes back as far as the printing press's inception. Spinning jennies, manufacturing lines, and silicon chips were all expected to produce a lot of hordes to unemployment. According to a startling study, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) will make 300 million jobs worldwide obsolete. In the most striking way, the repercussions of this industrial revolution were shown yesterday. BT has reported that it will reduce 55,000 posts, with up to a quarter replaced by AI, which allows computers to learn and solve problems in a 'human' way.

Despite a decrease in figures last year, raw sewage was pumped into England's seas and rivers on more than 300,000 occasions last year. On Friday, the Environment Agency is expected to announce estimates that storm overflows in 2022 has decreased by a fifth. This reduction is thought to have been triggered by improved water companies as well as a long summer drought. Rainfall was only 90 percent of the long-term average. Despite this, campaigners have slammed the 300,953 leaks as 'appalling,' adding that it amounts to 824 spills per day.

After Ofwat's announcement that it will fine 11 firms for missing deadlines and polluting rivers, households have been left furious after learning that they will not see any decrease in their water bills. Despite fines of over £150 million being paid out by the water authority, thousands of consumers will not see money cut off their bills. This is because all the water companies can raise prices in line with inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, which includes owner occupiers' housing costs, which stood at 8.6 percent in the 12 months to August. This means that savings will be offset by the inflation-linked price rise in bills. After looking at the fine breakdown, Feargal Sharkey, a guitarist and environmental campaigner, called Ofwat's proposal 'absurd' (top left). Suppliers were reluctant to comply with demands such as water supply disruptions, pollution problems, and internal sewer flooding after suppliers failed to respond. Mr Sharkey's essay provoked outrage (inset), with one individual claiming that Oftwat is 'not fit for purpose.'

ANDREW PIERCE: Sir Keir Starmer, the same unions that brought major parts of the country to a halt last week with three days of strike on the railways, is desperate to try to regain control with Labour's enormous £5 million deficit. Starmer's ban on frontbenchers joining picket lines - as well as his dismissal of frontbencher Sam Tarry for doing just that - have enraged the union brotherhood. Mick Whelan, the union's leader, of Aslef, has also speculated about ending the common association between unions and the Labour Party last month. Starmer has now apologized to Whelan, to Paddy Lillis from the shopworkers' union Usdaw, and to Matt Wrack, FBU's chief, for his picket-line stance. The Labour leader has the same old double standards.

Thames Water has become the first water company to announce plans for a hosepipe ban in the wake of bone-dry Britain (pictured left: a dry field in London, top right, and a flooded river basin in Gloucestershire) is teetering on the edge of a drought. In the coming weeks, the company, the UK's biggest water company, has announced that it would introduce a'temporary' hosepipe ban. Thames Water provides water to more than 15 million people in Greater London, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltshire, and areas of west Kent. It comes as it was announced today that environment leaders could announce a formal drought in areas of the England as early as this week, as Britain braces for another scorching heat wave. According to officials, parts of England could progress to official 'drought' status if the country's parched areas remain. Although there is no official definition of a drought in England, the Environment Agency (EA) has described a 'water supply drought' as occurring when a lack of rainfall causes water companies' worries about being able to supply their customers. In 2018, the last time drought was recorded was reported. The National Drought Group is now scheduled to meet on Friday. The group, which includes government officials, experts, and water company, as well as farmers, will meet to find how to solve problems that have arisen as a result of the recent dry weather. Similarly, a recent study by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology cautioned that river flows in southern, central, and eastern England are likely to be 'exceptionally' below average levels until October.

Experts have slammed suppliers, insisting that it was only the current dry spell in the United Kingdom that has sparked them to take action to locate and repair pipes as critics demanded that millionaire bosses be barred from receiving compensation until it improves. Many of the companies that have already issued bans, including Southern Water and South East Water, have promised to increase leak detection and repairs in their drought campaigns, representing 20% of the country's total water use. Yesterday, massive leaks in north London and north Kent, where massive amounts of water flooded streets, houses, and businesses. Southern Water, which has a hosepipe ban for its 1 million customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, has promised to 'increase effort to discover and repair leaks outside of our target' when a drought is forecast, while South East Water, which has a ban on 2.2 million in Kent and Sussex, has pledged to 'enhanced leakage detection' in times of persistent low rainfall, has announced on Friday that it has pledged to 'enhanced Hosepipe bans could persist until October with no'meaningful rain' expected to landfall anytime soon, as the temperatures are forecast to rise to 36C by the end of the week in several areas of England. Water companies would avoid repairing many pipes if it hurts their revenues, according to Alistair Chisholm of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management. "It's cheaper to treat up a lot of water and then let it leak away than it is to dig up tons and tons of pipes," he said.

As hosepipe bans are enforced around the world, burst pipes in London and Kent turned roads into canals, and submerged cars in yesterday. The 'tsunami' of water sparked outrage over the poor results of water companies that award their bosses with fat salaries and stipends for their staff's performance, despite presiding over creaking infrastructure. Until holes in leaky pipes are fixed, the Liberal Democrats and The Rivers Trust charity urge the government to prohibit new salaries for water company executives. According to a comparison of Companies House results, executives at England's water and sewage companies made £48 million between 2020 and 2021, including £27.6 million in salaries, healthcare, and incentives.

Following a fire that destroyed 15 houses and back gardens in Chelmsford, Essex, 40 people were forced to be evacuated from their homes on Saturday. Though the cause of the fire is unknown, fire chiefs have warned people not to use a grill in the hot weather. Due to the danger of fire, fire service station manager Dan Wastell has urged households not to'refrain from having barbecues.' 'We're dealing with unprecedented temperatures and drought-like conditions,' he said. Everything is tinder-dry.'

After the burst mains caused chaos, streets in Dartford, Kent, and Islington, north London, are flooded with water, and homes and businesses are left homeless. Nevertheless, Thames Water, the UK's largest water company, received a £727,000 reward over the weekend, asking customers in London to save water by using a can instead of a hose in the garden and shorter showers. South East Water has announced a ban from this Friday, affecting 2.2 million customers in Kent and Sussex. Southern Water became the first company to impose a hosepipe ban for customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight on Friday. Following Thames Water and South West Water's announcement that customers in London and the Thames Valley will be affected by further restrictions, around two million in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset could soon be hit by further bans. In certain places, neighbouring households are being encouraged to snitch on those who oppose any ban, which would result in a £1,000 fine. Customers paying hundreds of pounds a year for water have slammed the companies for failing to respond to leaks in the system, which is wasting billions of litres of water every day. On July 19, the United Kingdom sweltered in its hottest temperature in history, with some Britons searching for loopholes to cover their gardens and keep cool. 40.3C (104 F) is the British record. Hoses can also be used on new lawns in the 28 days that they were constructed, and the prohibition does not extend to watering plants in outdoor pots or greenhouses that are under cover. Hot tubs are exempt, but not swimming ponds or paddling ponds. Also, Britons are called to empty their bins and boats.