The only way to solve England's water crisis is state control
We propose an alternative means of controlling private-sector companies – replace Ofwat's monetary fines with state-owned voting shares of equivalent value. This approach would have several immediate benefits. By exercising shareholder rights, the state – on behalf of the public – could directly influence company policies; the public purse would gain revenue from dividends; and over time, as the state's shareholding increased, full nationalisation would become financially feasible.Dr Ruth Sinclair and Dr Jill VincentLoughborough, Leicestershire
Your article says that not a single reservoir has been built since water privatisation (How can England possibly be running out of water?, 17 August). But close to 100 were built in the 35 years prior to privatisation. The plundering of our public services and natural resources is a national disgrace. Public ownership is the only way to end this grisly affair.John LockwoodCarshalton, London
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BBC News
a few seconds ago
- BBC News
Chelsea sales reach £250m as Veiga fee is agreed
Chelsea have agreed to sell defender Renato Veiga to Villarreal for a fee rising to £26m - taking total player sales to over £250m for the Blues this summer. Veiga, 22, is expected to sign a seven-year contract and complete a medical in Spain on Thursday after the Spanish club agreed to pay close to their transfer record. The Portugal international was deemed surplus to requirements by manager Enzo Maresca and was training in the so-called 'bomb squad' - a group of senior players away from the first team - having asked to play at centre-back instead of left-back midway through last season. Chelsea will make a substantial profit on Veiga, who played 18 times for the club after joining from FC Basel in 2024 for £12m. Veiga spent part of the season on loan at Juventus, while Atletico Madrid showed an interest earlier in the transfer window. The move will see Chelsea raise an estimated £251.7m from selling 11 players, to balance £277m of spending on nine new players in a busy summer of transfers. The biggest sales have been Noni Madueke's move to Arsenal for an initial £48m, Joao Felix's deal with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr for a fee rising to £43.7m and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall joining Everton in a £28m remain interested in adding Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho and RB Leipzig midfielder Xavi Simons before the transfer window closes on 1 September. They are also trying to sell additional players, including Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Axel Disasi.
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Is Labour really failing on immigration and asylum hotels?
Councils across England are weighing up legal challenges after the High Court's decision to block a hotel in Epping from accommodating asylum seekers. The ruling blocks asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in the Essex town, and current residents must be removed by September 12. On Wednesday, several local authorities, including some run by the Labour Party, said they were considering their options to take similar action. The ruling has resulted in another wave of criticism directed at Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour government over immigration, with opposition parties repeatedly accusing the government of failing to adequately tackle the issue. Yet amid backlash and local council tensions, the figures show that Labour has already made significant steps to move away from the use of hotels. The multi-billion cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels has dropped markedly from its peak in 2023. Last year (2024/5), the cost for hotel bills was at £2.1bn, down by a third from £3.1bn in the previous year. The smaller bill is a result of multiple factors, most notably the reduction in the asylum backlog. The average daily cost for housing each asylum seeker in a hotel has gone down from £176 to £170 per person. This still remains higher than previous years. The government has also made efforts to reduce the proportion of asylum seekers housed in hotels, moving them towards other types of accommodation. Figures from March show 32,345 asylum seekers out of over 100,000 were being accommodated in hotels, with the remainder housed in temporary accommodation including council-owned homes and a former airfield. Just 30 per cent are staying in hotels, which is meant as a contingency - or temporary - measure. Government accounts show that costs are likely to remain similar this year, with £2.2bn requested by the Home Office to asylum housing costs; suggesting that the number of asylum seekers is unlikely to fall significantly. In February, Home Office permanent secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft said the department was aiming to 'get to zero' asylum hotels by the end of this parliament in 2029. In 2022, the government began plans to use 'large sites' like cruise ships and ex-military bases to accommodate asylum seekers. Among these are the Bibby Stockholm barge, which was shut down last year, and former RAF airfield Wethersfield which now houses 588 people as of early 2025. But a review last year found that these sites cost more than hotels as a way to house asylum seekers. Nonetheless, hotels cost around six times more on average than other types of accommodation, according to analysis by the Migration Observatory; at £170 a day compared to £27 a day. Yet most of the time, the government is forced to place people in hotels due to a lack of capacity, with a shortage of accommodation and a substantial –albeit decreasing – asylum backlog. The asylum backlog stood at 78,745 cases at the end of March – a 13 per cent drop from December, and down 41 per cent from the mid-2023 peak. Yet the sizeable backlog, which is still higher than pre-2022 levels, represents a host of ongoing costs for the government as people wait for a decision on their asylum claims. Most asylum seekers are still waiting over six months for an initial decision on their claim, although waiting times have improved compared to the same time last year. The majority of people in the backlog are Afghan, Pakistani and Iranian nationals, according to the Migration Observatory. The UK's asylum backlog is the fifth largest in Europe. Where are asylum seekers staying in the UK? Now, over 8 in 10 local authorities host some asylum seekers, Home Office figures show. This is a significant rise over the last decade. Accommodation for asylum seekers varies by region. In the North East of England, just 5 per cent are housed in hotels, while in London hotels make up the majority of accommodation (65 per cent). Epping Forest council is within the East of England region, which has 41 per cent of migrants housed in hotels. However, being in Essex, the council is on the edge of London which has a higher concentration of asylum seekers than the rest of the UK. Around 140 migrants were being housed in The Bell Hotel in Epping, according to BBC reports, all of whom must now leave by September. Though the hotel has provided accommodation for the Home Office for several years, occupancy has fluctuated, with figures in March showing just 28 asylum seekers housed across Epping Forest hotels. Reform leader Nigel Farage has called on other councils to seek 'Epping-style injunctions' against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, adding: 'It is high time that the outrageously expensive asylum hotel scheme, which nobody in Britain ever voted for, was brought down by popular demand.' The recent pushback has come amid record levels of small boat crossings to the UK. Labour's education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith has admitted that the high numbers are 'a problem that, up until this point, we haven't managed to tackle'. People coming on small boats make up an increasing proportion of asylum applications. Last year, a third of the UK's asylum claims came from small boat migrants. In 2025 so far, over 26,000 migrants have already crossed the English Channel, higher than summer levels in any year to date. In fact, figures at mid-August have nearly exceeded the entirety of 2023 (29,437). Meanwhile arrests of people smugglers who enable the crossings were down last year, according to National Crime Agency data obtained by The Independent. The shadow home secretary called Labour's failure to 'smash the gangs' an 'abject failure'. This suggests that small boats migration could be the highest on record over 2025, bringing with it a slew of new asylum claims; since almost all irregular migrants apply for asylum.
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
As St George's Cross protests grow, what are the rules on flying flags?
F lags. Troublesome, tribal things that can be used as an assertive statement of ideological, religious, national or ethnic supremacy. We see that in Northern Ireland with nationalists and loyalists commandeering lamp posts as flag poles and painting the kerbstones green-white-and-orange or red-white-and-blue, with matching folk murals glorifying martyrs and battles. It's something that seems to be spreading to parts of England, too. But a flag can also be an innocent, joyous emanation of a shared identity and values – as when the Lionesses did England proud. Vexillology can be a highly vexing matter, as we witnessed when the royal family insisted on protocol after the death of Diana, Prince of Wales and having the royal standard flown at full rather than half mast, later giving in to public pressure. In fact, there are official guidelines to help us navigate this newly popular method of free expression… What does the government say? The official guidance is issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and dates back to when Boris Johnson was premier and started making ministers put flags in the background of every public appearance and on any and every public building. It was only a partial attempt to boost confidence in the dismal post-Brexit life of the nation. Anyway, Angela Rayner is in charge of flags now, and so the guidance should probably be read in an Angela Rayner accent: 'Flags are a very British way of expressing joy and pride – they are emotive symbols which can boost local and national identities, strengthen community cohesion and mark civic pride. The government wants to see more flags flown, particularly the union flag, the flag of the United Kingdom. It is a symbol of national unity and pride.' Great. What can we fly? Almost anything in principle, within the rules, but probably not the terrorist stuff, not even in private, given that it would be likely taken as promoting violence. The list of flags that do not require consent (proving they don't contravene other rules or laws) include: any country's national flag; the Commonwealth, UN or other international body of which the UK is a member; any British island, county, city, village, or borough; the Scottish and Irish saltires; armed forces flags; the flag of St George (England – but not additionally adorned with eg a bulldog, Nigel Farage, St George himself or the name of a football team). Curiously, the evocative and lovely Welsh Dragon flag isn't specifically covered in the guidance, but we may assume it's OK. On that basis, then, when, as planned, Palestine is officially recognised as a sovereign state by the United Kingdom, the now familiar design can be waved around with the full backing of the government. On the other hand, the European Union's starry flag now technically requires consent, as does the 'Ulster banner', the old Northern Ireland flag featuring the red hand emblem, much favoured by some unionists and loyalists but no longer formally recognised (if it ever was). What about the rainbow flag? It's one of a number that also don't require consent but need to conform to a few rules on the size of flagpoles and their position. Corporate and sports flags and the NHS logo fall into this category. The 'progress' flag, a more 'inclusive' adaptation of the rainbow flag and the trans flag aren't mentioned. What can't we fly? 'Any flag not identified above requires express consent from the local planning authority before it can be flown.' So that includes the EU and Wales, and party political ones among others – but not Palestine. Can I have a flagpole? You can have two on on the roof of your house if you want, or in the grounds, provided one is from the list that don't require permission: 'No restrictions on the size of any character or symbol displayed on the flag, except where a flag is flown within an area of outstanding natural beauty, area of special control, the Broads, conservation area or a National Park (referred to elsewhere as 'controlled areas') where the characters may be no more than 0.75m in height (0.3m in height in an area of special control).' Elsewhere, eg on the outside wall, requires permissions. You are referred to the regulations governing the flying of flags set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and in 2021).
