Truss enters No 10 full of promises (just like the last 3 Tory PMs)

George Eustice was sacked soon after defending raw sewage dumping. But this does not signal a “Green” government, far from it. Owl fears for the environment.

Eustice defends ‘utter failure’ of efforts to cut raw sewage discharges in England

What planet does “Useless” inhabit? – Owl

Richard Foord, Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said: “This summer, people visiting East Devon had their health put at risk by greedy water companies.”

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

The environment secretary, George Eustice, insisted the government was tackling the millions of hours of raw sewage discharges into rivers and seas in England as MPs demanded answers to a summer of water companies dumping effluent into holiday swimming spots.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “Literal shit is being pumped into our rivers and seas. The state of our water network is a national scandal and the government has utterly failed to take action.”

She said the government’s plan, published last week, meant sewage discharges would be permitted up to 2050. “Why is the government going backwards?

“And during a cost of living scandal, floundering water bosses are still taking home obscene pay packets – pouring salt in the wounds of millions struggling to make ends meet.”

Eustice said the Conservative government was the only one to tackle the problem. He said that in 2016 just 800 storm overflows were monitored but the government had increased this to 12,000 out of a total of 15,000 overflows.

Using information from the monitoring had led to record prosecutions against water companies, he told MPs, with 54 prosecutions since 2015 and fines totalling £140m.

Defending the plan outlined last week to reduce raw sewage discharges via overflows, which was criticised as a “cruel joke”, Eustice said: “Our discharge reduction plan prioritises bathing waters. We are requiring water companies to make available all the data on storm overflows and to publish it in real time for the public.

“Water companies are investing £3.1bn to deliver 800 storm overflow improvements by 2025. We have increased monitoring of storm overflows to almost 90%, and by next year that will be 100%.”

He said £56bn of investment was to be pumped into the networks to tackle the storm overflow discharges. But the government has rejected a more widespread and systematic investment to end the use of storm overflows completely.

“The cost of completely removing storm overflows is around £600bn; to reduce use of them so they are not used in an average year would be £200bn,” he said. “What we have chosen to do is spend £56bn to target the most harmful sewer discharges and this will lead to significant change in years ahead … we have committed to this investment.”

The investment of £56bn almost matches the £57bn in dividends the English water companies have paid out to shareholders since privatisation.

As MPs debated the discharges, beaches across England were under pollution alerts once more after the dumping of raw sewage by water companies, after a night of storms and heavy rainfall.

Richard Foord, Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said: “This summer, people visiting East Devon had their health put at risk by greedy water companies.”

Eustice said the government was addressing the issue in the Environment Act and had given powers to the water regulator Ofwat to link dividend payments to environmental performance. Water companies should consider themselves on notice, he said.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour MP for Islington North, said: “Isn’t it very obvious we should do what every other country in western Europe does and bring our water industry as a whole into public ownership under public control, so that we don’t damage our water infrastructure in order to pay profits to distant billionaires?”

Eustice said the original vision of water privatisation was that there would be publicly listed companies on the London Stock Exchange and that water bill payers would also be shareholders. But he said: “In the early 2000s, most of these water companies fell into the hands of private equity operators and that was a change.”

Also in the early 2000s, the then government took a decision to issue licences in perpetuity rather than for fixed periods. “So there have been some changes since privatisation but [Corbyn’s] central charge that actually nationalisation would be the way to get investment is, I am afraid, wrong,” Eustice said.

“I know that we will deliver, we will deliver and we will deliver.”

Yesterday’s acceptance speech

“Well, thank you, Sir Graham. It’s an honour to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.

“I’d like to thank the 1922 Committee, the party chairman, and the Conservative Party for organising one of the longest job interviews in history.

“Thank you very much. I’d also like to thank my family, my friends, my political colleagues, and all of those who helped on this campaign. I’m incredibly grateful for all of your support.

“I’d like to pay tribute to my fellow candidates, particularly Rishi Sunak. It’s been a hard-fought campaign. I think we have shown the depth and breadth of talent in our Conservative Party.

“And I also want to thank our outgoing leader, my friend, Boris Johnson. Boris, you got Brexit done. You crushed Jeremy Corbyn. You rolled out the vaccine, and you stood up to Vladimir Putin. You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.

“Friends and colleagues, thank you for putting your faith in me to lead our great Conservative Party, the greatest political party on earth.

“I know that our beliefs resonate with the British people – our beliefs in freedom, in the ability to control your own life, in low taxes, in personal responsibility, and I know that’s why people voted for us in such numbers in 2019. And as your party leader, I intend to deliver what we promised those voters right across our great country.

“During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a conservative and I will govern as a conservative.

“My friends, we need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term.

“And I will deliver on the National Health Service, we will deliver for all for our country, and I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of the Conservative Party, our brilliant Members of Parliament, and peers, our fantastic councillors, our MSs, our MSPs, all of our councillors and activists and members right across our country, because, my friends, I know that we will deliver, we will deliver and we will deliver.

“And we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024, thank you.”

As you can see from the news today.

No need to stop playing your favourite game – Owl  

The Conservative MP Christopher Chope has been tipped to join the committee investigating claims Boris Johnson misled parliament about his knowledge of Covid law-breaking parties, sources have told the Guardian.

[The Times reports that the nomination was made by Boris Johnson as a parting shot of his premiership.]

Aubrey Allegretti www.theguardian.com 

Chope would replace Laura Farris, who announced over the summer that she was stepping down from the body that scrutinises complaints about MPs’ behaviour.

The nomination would need to be passed by the Commons in order for him to be appointed to the privileges committee.

Normally, the vote is done as a “nod or nothing” – meaning that if there was one dissenting voice, it would fall.

Chope’s appointment is likely to prove controversial given his history of blocking laws, including attempts to outlaw “upskirting”.

A source said he was well versed in parliamentary procedure. Chope also sat for two years on the privileges committee from October 2017 until November 2019.

The government did not respond to a request for comment.

Jess Phillips, the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, told the Guardian: “Chris Chope is not a man I would rely on to be on the standards committee. He tried to derail legislation that would criminalise taking pictures up women’s skirts. Why would anyone think he was appropriate?

“Frankly the Conservatives’ attempt to force him on to the committee shows that no matter who their leader is they will always rely on their mates to get them out of upholding the standards that the country would expect. Same old Tories.”

Chope’s nomination would be one of the final acts of Johnson’s administration, which has rallied against the investigation into his repeated denials that any rules were broken during lockdown.

Several of Johnson’s allies have called the inquiry a “witch-hunt”. The prime minister also recently used taxpayers’ money to commission legal advice costing £130,000 that disparaged the privileges committee.

The Partygate inquiry will not investigate the extent of rule-breaking, which has already been examined by the Metropolitan police, who issued more than 100 fines, including to Johnson himself, and by the senior civil servant Sue Gray.

The seven-member committee, which has a Tory majority but is chaired by Labour’s Harriet Harman, is instead expected to investigate whether Johnson misled parliament by denying any Covid laws were broken.

The investigation was set up after MPs passed a motion in April.

The committee can recommend a punishment for those it finds to have broken Commons rules, including ordering a written apology, suspension or expulsion. However, in order for the sanction to be imposed, MPs must vote for it.

The committee has vowed to continue investigating Johnson after he leaves Downing Street on Tuesday.

Evidence requested by the committee so far includes WhatsApp messages, photos and diary entries.

Nothing has changed – Owl

A minister’s husband is facing scrutiny after £24 million of government contracts were awarded to a company where he is a non-exec director, according to Sun reports.

Jack Peat www.thelondoneconomic.com 

Gillian Keegan’s partner, Michael, 60, is a Cabinet Office mandarin responsible for government relationships with suppliers — but also holds a board role with Centerprise International.

Between October 2019 and May 2020 the Ministry of Defence gave the IT company 17 contracts.

The revelation comes hot on the heels of news that Tory MP Dr Liam Fox received a £20,000 donation earlier this year from a Covid-19 testing company that he reportedly contacted the former health secretary over.

According to an email seen by the BBC and the legal campaign group the Good Law Project, Dr Fox recommended SureScreen Diagnostics to then-health secretary Matt Hancock in 2020.

SureScreen Diagnostics would later be awarded a £500 million testing contract by the Department of Health and Social Care.

Labour called the deals “an example of vested Tory interests at the centre of Government”.

The Cabinet Office said Mr Keegan “plays no role in awarding contracts to suppliers”.

Centerprise could not be reached for comment last night.

John Healey, Shadow Defence Secretary, said: “This smacks of dodgy crony contracts at the heart of defence procurement.

“Protecting British armed servicemen and women is the most important duty of any Defence Secretary.

“Our British troops and taxpayers deserve better.”

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Exhortation also applies to the opposition groups and parties in East Devon – Owl

New PM? Devon’s MPs and councillors react

Not everyone trusts Truss

Georgia Cornish, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Devon’s politicians have been reacting to the announcement that Liz Truss is to be the next prime minister.

She took 57 per cent of the votes of Conservative Party members, beating  former chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Ms Truss will see the queen at Balmoral on Tuesday where she will be invited to form a government after Boris Johnson has tended his resignation to Her Majesty first.

Nine out of Devon’s 12 MPs are Conservatives, including East Devon’s Simon Jupp, who backed Rishi Sunak. Mr Jupp offered his congratulations to the new Tory leader on Twitter, and sent his commiserations to Mr Sunak.

He continued: “The Conservative Party must now unite to support our new prime minister against Putin’s invasion and the huge impact it’s having on the cost of living in East Devon. United we stand, divided we fall. Onwards!”

Selaine Saxby, the MP for North Devon, also backed the Ready4Rishi campaign but tweeted with a similar sentiment to her colleague. She wrote: “There is a lot of work to do, and I look forward to working with the new prime minister to continue to level up across rural Britain and especially N. Devon”

Richard Foord MP, recently elected to the Tiverton & Honiton seat representing the Liberal Democrats, said in a statement: “Liz Truss and the Conservatives have spent months failing to act on soaring energy bills, leaving local residents in despair and small businesses going to the wall.

“They have shown they are completely out of touch with people in the westcountry who are struggling to get by.

“It is time that Conservative MPs across Devon finally listened to Liberal Democrat calls to freeze energy bills to save families and pensioners from an economic catastrophe this winter. We have tabled legislation to freeze energy bills, which could be brought in on day one to offer the help that local families and businesses need.

“Liz Truss’ premiership represents more of the same failed Conservative party policies as Boris Johnson, which have led to a cost of living crisis, leaving families and pensioners at breaking point. It’s clear that the country is in dire need of a change.”

Teignbridge District Council leader Alan Connett (LibDem, Teignbridge District Council) congratulated Ms Truss, but warned:“It will be a huge task to reunite the country after the scorching divisions on the past few years.

“That’s alongside the urgent support needed for families, businesses and communities across the country struggling with the cost of living crisis, the energy crisis, the housing crisis, the crisis in the NHS, the crisis in adults and children’s social care, and now soaring inflation.

“The new prime minister’s ‘to do’ list will be very long, I’m sure. However, at the top of that list are very real issues that threaten every household and many, many businesses.

“Like so many people, I have not been impressed by the ‘ping-pong’ politics of the Conservatives in recent years, nor this latest leadership election.”

Luke Pollard MP (Labour, Plymouth Sutton & Devonport), tweeted: “After four prime ministers in 12 years, Britain deserves a fresh start with a general election.

Liz Truss must now immediately address the rising cost of living crisis by freezing energy bills as Labour has set out.

I will be writing to the new PM to urge her to give the south west our fair share but after her comments about wanting to cut pay for public sector workers in the South West, I’m afraid I’m not holding my breath.

Bring on a general election and a Labour government”

Unlike his Plymouth colleague, Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw, who is to stand down at the next general election, hasn’t appealed for one.

Instead he said: “Truss has been chosen to be prime minister by a tiny number of Conservative members and with the lowest level of support from those members or her own MPs of any leader in modern times.

“It also seems clear she is about to renege on all the promises she made during the leadership campaign, including adopting Labour’s policy of freezing energy bills.

“This would be welcome, but the nature of her election, her lack of a mandate and the rancour that the contest generated does not auger well for competent and stable government at a time when Britain has never needed it more.”

5 September, alerts at 20 Devon beaches, expected to clear in 72 hours

From the interactive map https://www.sas.org.uk/map/

(You don’t have to wait until tea-time)

“With a bold vision for the country and a bold vision for our economy, which consists entirely of me saying the words ‘bold’ and ‘vision’ repeatedly.”

Otto English has got his hands on Boris Johnson’s successor’s inaugural speech as PM…

The reign of Terror is Ended – the Age of Truss is About to Begin

Byline Times bylinetimes.com

I stand before you now as your Prime Minister. 

With a bold vision for the country and a bold vision for our economy, which consists entirely of me saying the words ‘bold’ and ‘vision’ repeatedly.

I stand before you with adjectives and the sort of business-speak terms you hear Lord Sugar say on the Apprentice, and I will keep repeating them until you realise that I am a serious person who sounds impressive.

I believe in this country. I believe the children are our future. I believe in Santa Claus and I believe I can fly.

I believe too that while our history is something to be immensely proud of, there are better days ahead for me personally, if not for everyone else.

I think my track record speaks for itself. 

Whether posing for photos on the official Government Instagram account, or saying the words ‘pork markets’ suggestively, or negotiating trade deals with New Zealand that benefit Kiwi farmers – while bankrupting our own – I have already made the Brexit I never believed in work for me. 

My trade deal with Japan means that the £100,000 worth of cheese that we sell in that country will be tariff-free by 2033. And while the Japanese are selling billions of pounds worth of their cars into our market on the same terms, our cheese farmers will be rejoicing. As they say in Japan, ‘sushi!’ 

On the campaign trail people have often asked me ‘what do you really stand for Liz?’ – to which my answer is: ‘tell me what you believe in and then I will tell you the same thing back again in slightly different words.’ I am a woman of principles. Other people’s principles. And if you don’t like them, just tell me and I’ll change them to what you think instead. 

On one issue I remain resolute. I will stand firm against those who threaten our peace and security – and no I’m not talking about Putin but ‘wokery’. Too many people in this country don’t fly flags over their homes or stand for the national anthem when it plays on GB News. Worst of all, they talk about nasty things like slavery. I will not allow the truth of our history to spoil the one we all believe in! And I stand before you now determined to get positive headlines in the Sun and Daily Mail. 

Be reassured too that, if the time ever came to order a nuclear strike, then I would not hesitate to do it – even if it meant a few weeks of mild discomfort in my official nuclear bunker in an undisclosed location until it was safe to come out. Some things are worth sacrificing for our freedom and believe me when I say I am quite happy to sacrifice you.

But it’s now time for the serious bit. [Big pause. Solemn face].

We have huge challenges ahead as a country. Many of you will be concerned about your winter fuel bills, your healthcare, jobs, security, your children’s educations, and your own livelihoods. I know that many of you will be worried – desperately worried – about the coming months. But be reassured that by me saying ‘I love my country’ and ‘I want the best for us all’ then everything will magically be resolved. 

When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, she quoted the words of the prayer of St Francis of Assisi saying, ‘where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith’. I would like to end with a quote of my own, by Keith Harris, which I think is very apt right now:

Nothing that you can say

Will change how I feel today:

I know that we’ll never part;

Now hear what I’m saying, Orville?

Who is your very best friend?

You are

I’m gonna help you

mend your broken heart.

God Save the Queen!

Liz Truss will pay no more than £2,000 in total for all her energy bills in Downing Street this winter because of state subsidies, Labour has calculated.

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

If Truss, as widely expected, is elected as Conservative leader and prime minister on Monday, she is expected to move into the four-bedroom flat above 11 Downing Street, the larger of the two official residences.

While the energy price cap will mean the average annual bill is expected to rise well over £4,000 during the winter, Truss will be insulated from price rises beyond a certain point because of the way her energy costs are paid for.

As set out in the Treasury’s annual accounts, the electricity and heating bills for the No 11 flat, and the smaller residence above No 10, which would be used by her chancellor, expected to be Kwasi Kwarteng, are paid for by the state.

These are then treated as a benefit in kind, meaning the costs are added to the person’s income and subject to tax. The amount of tax can vary, but even if Truss paid the higher rate of income tax on it, this would be 45% of the total.

In another perk, the Treasury rules set out that this benefit in kind is capped at 10% of the prime minister or chancellor’s salary.

Truss’s salary as PM would be £75,440, meaning that for the rest of this financial year, taking her to the end of March, the total amount on which she could be liable for extra tax for heating, electricity or other expenses, would be £4,000, or 10% of the seven months of pay. She also receives an MP’s salary but the benefit in kind would only apply to her duties as PM.

In turn, Truss would not have to cover this entire cost, just pay the tax on it. At the 45p higher rate, this would mean her energy costs are capped at £1,980 this winter. However much the energy cap might rise in the 2023-24 tax year, Truss would then pay no more than £3,400 in total from her full annual salary.

Abena Oppong-Asare, Labour’s shadow exchequer secretary, said: “While Truss may be able to rest easy knowing her energy bills won’t be soaring, the least she could do is offer the millions of families reassurance and clarity on what her plans are.

“Instead she has left people deeply anxious, worrying about making ends meet as the energy crisis escalates and only offering vague promises and lukewarm words.

“Families deserve a government ready to act and meet the scale of this national emergency. With Labour’s plan to freeze energy prices, households won’t pay a penny more this winter and we’ll be able to get a grip on this crisis.”

Downing Street and Truss’s campaign were contacted for comment.

Ministers will introduce legislation as soon as parliament returns on Monday to tackle the NHS’s worsening staffing crisis by making it easier for overseas nurses and dentists to work in the UK.

Denis Campbell www.theguardian.com

The move is part of a drive by the health secretary, Steve Barclay, to increase overseas recruitment to help plug workforce gaps in health and social care.

Barclay believes thousands of extra health professionals will come as a result of new rules making it easier for medical regulators to register those who have qualified abroad. If the change proves successful it will help pave the way for more nurses and dentists coming to work in Britain from countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, the Philippines and Malaysia.

However, critics claim the policy is a stop-gap that is no substitute for ramping up the supply of homegrown staff and risks worsening the lack of health workers in other countries that are struggling with shortages of their own.

The initiative comes days after new figures showed that the number of unfilled posts in the NHS in England jumped by more than 25,000 in three months earlier this year to a record 132,139 – one in 10 of the entire workforce. That included 46,828 vacancies for nurses alone – 11.8% of the total.

Brexit has significantly reduced the number of nurses coming to work in Britain from the EU.

Barclay, NHS England and organisations representing health service personnel are worried that acute shortages of staff are contributing to patients’ now routine long waits for care and increasing the risk that some services will fall over this winter.

A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) memo seen by the Guardian shows that it will lay a statutory instrument in the House of Commons on Monday intended to enable the bodies that regulate nurses and dentists to approve the arrival of more foreign-trained staff.

The secondary legislation, which does not need a full parliamentary process to pass it, will be called the Dentists, Dental Care Professionals, Nurses, Nursing Associates and Midwives (International Registrations) Order 2022.

It makes clear that the DHSC intends to simplify what it regards as unnecessarily cumbersome procedures that restrict overseas staff coming to work in the NHS.

It says that “aspects of the current legislative requirements for registering international dentists make it difficult and time-consuming for the General Dental Council (GDC) to make changes to its registration.

“Similarly, excessive detail on the process that the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) must follow to assess international applicants makes it difficult for the regulator to explore alternative registration routes to its test of competence.”

The memo adds that the order “would provide the GDC with greater flexibility to make changes to its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) process and to explore other registration routes for international applicants, for example, recognition of programmes of education delivered outside the UK on a unilateral basis.”

It will also remove “prescriptive detail on the process that the NMC must follow in relation to qualification comparability and the assessment of international applicants, providing the NMC with greater flexibility to change these processes in future.”

The number of doctors and nurses from outside the EU working in the NHS in England has soared since Britain voted in 2016 to leave the bloc.

A DHSC source said: “These legal changes will free up the regulators to carry out thousands more checks each year on dentists and nurses from overseas, giving the NHS much-needed capacity. The NHS has always called on overseas staff when in need.

The changes would not lead to a glut of less-qualified staff arriving, the source said. “We’re making sure we recruit ethically and without weakening standards, and these extra checks will help deliver that. Patients should be reassured that we will bring in extra staff able to deliver care to the same high standards as the staff we have already.”

However, the overseas recruitment push has generated controversy about the ethics involved, such as the decision to recruit 100 nurses from Nepal over 15 months to work in hospitals in Hampshire. The Health Service Journal reported last week that NHS and nursing bosses are concerned at what they see as the over-reliance on luring staff from abroad.

The Royal College of Nursing has warned that “our health system is already over-reliant on international nursing staff and we must ensure recruitment is ethical”.

James Buchan, a senior fellow at the Health Foundation thinktank, said the acute shortage of nurses is likely to see already historically high levels of international recruitment of members of the profession go up further.

“While international recruitment [of nurses] can plug the gap short-term, it should not distract from the need to train and retain more nurses in the UK. In order to attract more homegrown people to the profession nursing must be made an attractive career choice and that means improving pay, terms and conditions.”

The British Dental Association said government action to enable a bigger supply of dental staff from overseas was welcome but the new push would not end the growing shortage of NHS dentists, which has left millions of patients facing serious difficulty accessing care.

“Action here is long overdue, but will not address the scale of the crisis facing this service,” said Eddie Crouch, the BDA’s chair.

“NHS dentistry is haemorrhaging talent by the day because of the dysfunctional system it’s built on. Ministers need to do more than try to fill a leaky bucket. They need to actually fix it.”

Who gets the Magic Sauce? – Owl

The south-east of England, the most affluent region in Britain outside London, last year received almost twice as much money as the north-east from the government’s levelling up fund aimed at boosting deprived areas.

Jon Ungoed-Thomas www.theguardian.com 

Projects in the south-east benefited from £9.2m from the fund in the year to 31 March 2022. By comparison, the north-east only received £4.9m, despite being the poorest region in Britain by disposable household income.

The £4.8bn fund is under scrutiny over its failure to date to deliver to some of the poorest areas of the country. There are also questions over the criteria for allocating money after the former chancellor, Rishi Sunak, told an audience that he changed funding formulas to divert money from “deprived urban areas”.

Ministers want the multi-billion pound fund to provide a cash boost to some of the poorest areas of the UK, but the new figures obtained under freedom of information laws reveal that just £107.4m of funds were delivered in the year to 31 March 2022.

Jack Shaw, a researcher into local government who obtained the new figures, said: “With less than 3% of the levelling up fund having been spent in its first year, the rhetoric of levelling up hasn’t matched the reality.

“The government needs to be clear about why that is the case and why [the north-east] despite the focus on correcting regional imbalances, has received less than 5% of the fund’s spending to date.”

Initially, it was hoped that £600m would be delivered in 2021/22 by the fund. The figure was revised downwards to £200m, but not even that target has been hit.

The new figures reveal the West Midlands received the most money in 2021/22, with projects receiving £16.3m of funds. Northern Ireland received the smallest amount, with projects receiving just over £1m of cash, equivalent to 57p per head of population.

While the north-east received less funds than the south-east in 2021/22, it did receive more per head of population: £1.83 per capita, compared to the £1 per head of population received in the south-east.

Officials say they allocated £1.7bn in the first round of funding in which the successful bidders were announced in October last year. Bids for the second round closed last month.

In the 2020 spending review, Sunak announced the launch of the levelling up fund to support towns and communities with regeneration schemes. It will run over four years from 2021/22 to 2024/25.

The methodology for allocating awards has faced criticism for not using deprivation levels to rank areas for priority funding.

Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, called for an inquiry into why some of the poorest communities have so far missed out in levelling up awards.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “This is a selective use of figures and does not accurately represent allocations from the first round of the Levelling Up Fund, where the North and Yorkshire are receiving £519m, more than the south-east and London combined.

“We are working closely with all levels of government to relentlessly drive forward our shared ambition to fuel regeneration and growth in areas which have been overlooked and undervalued for far too long.”

Warnings to sea swimmers have been issued by the government after sewage was discharged into the sea. Warnings across Devon at three beaches state that the water is unsafe to swim in.

Edward Church www.devonlive.com

At these three beaches the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said, the water has been polluted and people should avoid taking a dip. Such warnings have been issued multiple times since mid-August when the heat wave first gave way to heavy rain.

Heavy rain, like we had over the last few days, can overwhelm our sewage system and lead to outflow pipes by beaches being used. As a result, we get sewage at our beaches and in the water.

For some, this is a real blow as they use their local beach for swimming. But the government advice is clear on the beaches affected: do not swim.

These beaches are not safe to swim in:

• Ladram Bay, Otterton – Pollution risk warning
• Dawlish Town, Dawlish – Pollution risk warning
• Paignton Preston Sands, Paignton – Pollution risk warning

As well as the warnings from Defra, south west-based Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has issued warnings on a total of 12 Cornish beaches. SAS indicates which beaches have had a sewage discharge near a beach in the last 48 hours.

These beaches have had pollution warnings from Surfers Against Sewage:

• Combe Martin, north Devon
• Paignton Preston Sands, Paignton
• Dawlish Town, Dawlish
• Ladram Bay, Otterton
• Shoalstone Beach (maintenance ongoing)

Behold the favourite for the Conservative leadership as she surveys her icy realm.

Ms Truss has promised to deliver around £30bn in tax cuts in an emergency Budget later this month if she wins, including a reversal of April’s rise to National Insurance.

Pressed on whether richer people would benefit more from the cut, she said: “The people at the top of the income distribution pay more tax – so inevitably, when you cut taxes you tend to benefit people who are more likely to pay tax.”

But she added: “To look at everything through the lens of redistribution I believe is wrong. Because what I’m about is growing the economy – and growing the economy benefits everybody.

“The economic debate for the past 20 years has been dominated by discussions about distribution. And what’s happened is we’ve had relatively low growth”. From the Laura Kuenssberg interview Sunday www.bbc.co.uk

Psst: Increasing productivity is the key to growth. Owl believes that we need to change fundamentally our short-term business and financing culture. Not until companies and financiers stop looking for quick gains but take the long term view, ploughing profits back into investment in the “tools of the trade”: plant, machinery, training and human capital, will we start to improve.

In crude terms: stop asset stripping, seeking to make a quick buck and paying directors obscene multiples of the average wage.

Increasing productivity means getting more output for each hour worked. A happy and motivated staff are key.

It’s not going to happen is it? 

[And take longer.]

The extremely hot and dry weather experienced recently has caused the clay embankments to dry out and shrink – leaving the track on top uneven and trains unable to travel at full speed.

South Western Railway says the changes will enable a ‘resilient service’ to operate.

Once again transport to the South West is being shown to be inadequate. – Owl

South Western Railway issues reduced timetable on West of England Line

Jamie Jones www.chardandilminsternews.co.uk 

Commuters are facing a reduced timetable on the railways as a new week gets underway due to issues caused by the August heatwave.

On Monday (September 5) the West of England Line, which runs from Basingstoke, Hampshire, to Exeter in Devon, will be operating the revised itinerary and customers are being urged to check their journey before travelling.

South Western Railway says the changes will enable a ‘resilient service’ to operate after an Emergency Speed Restriction was put in place between Gillingham in Dorset and Tisbury in Wiltshire by Network Rail engineers.

The extremely hot and dry weather experienced recently has caused the clay embankments to dry out and shrink – leaving the track on top uneven and trains unable to travel at full speed.

Train services have had to be amended as the line is single track – meaning trains can’t pass each other outside of passing loops – and trains are taking approximately twice the normal length of time to run between Gillingham and Tisbury.

SWR managing director, Claire Mann, said: “After two weeks of delays and short-notice changes to our services, this decision to introduce a revised timetable will allow us to run a resilient service and at least provide certainty to our customers in the West of England.

“I am sorry to all those whose journeys will be affected as we wait for weather conditions to improve so Network Rail can safely remove the speed restriction.”

The following changes have been put in place:

• Services will generally run hourly between Waterloo & Yeovil Junction
• Services will generally run every two hours between Waterloo & Exeter St Davids
• Journey times will be amended and/or extended across most services on the route

West of England Line reduced timetable – when will it end?

It is likely that the timetable will remain in operation until at least October, as engineers must wait for the soil to stop shrinking and regain some of its moisture before repairs can be made and the speed restriction lifted.

Network Rail’s Wessex route director, Mark Killick, added: “We’re sorry for the disruption that our customers are seeing between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction, which is a direct result of the hot and dry conditions.

“We hope the amended timetable can give our customers confidence, but we do recognise that the reduced number of services and longer journey times will be disruptive.

“As soon as it is safe to remove the speed restriction, we will do so, but this may not be until October when we hope conditions will improve.”

For more information, visit the South Western Railway website.

Owl fears there can be no good news on Monday

Farmers in England will be allowed to shoot beavers if they threaten their crops, the government has revealed.

Could only happen under a “Conservative” government – Owl

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

Conservationists have opposed the move, saying the animals are an “ally to farmers”, helping conserve water in times of drought, and are an endangered species that should be treasured. The rodents became extinct in the UK 400 years ago after they were hunted for their pelts, but in recent years they have been reintroduced to England and Scotland.

After the wetland-creating creatures were found on the River Otter in Devon in 2013, the government allowed them to stay to test their impact on fish stocks and local landowners.

A study in 2019 found the beavers had enhanced biodiversity in the area and increased fish stocks. Since then, the wheels have been set in motion for beavers to be recognised as a native English species and so be protected from harm. From 1 October, beavers in England will enjoy enhanced protection, paving the way for their repopulation of the country’s waterways.

However, until now it was unknown whether farmers and landowners would be allowed to kill, rather than simply remove, beavers that may chop down trees or flood farmland. Government guidance released this weekend said that, as a last resort, “lethal control” may be used.

Some farmers have criticised plans to enshrine protections for beavers without consultation on their control.

Minette Batters, chair of the NFU, said recently: “With the clear impact beavers can have on agricultural land, a clear management plan after consultation with farmers was the least the government should have created before introducing this legislation.”

Farmer Derek Gow, who breeds beavers for reintroduction projects at his farm in Devon, said he disagreed with the new guidance.

He told the Observer: “It is completely and utterly wrong to kill them. Beavers change landscapes for the better. They assist in times of drought and with slowing flow in times of flood. We should treasure beavers for all they offer and move them carefully where they will assist the land. We should not kill a single beaver.”

He added that in most cases, farmers’ concerns about beavers are unwarranted. “Beavers can only be an issue in very intensively-used drained wetlands with complex systems that have very limited fall with regards to water being drained away. We have farmed for too long next to water – the greatest pollutant of all is agriculture; pesticides, bacteria and chemicals move straight into water, causing immense damage. Beavers, which filter this sort of pollutant, are actually an aid to farming.”

James Wallace, former CEO of the Beaver Trust who now works at waterway charity River Action, said the animals should be seen as a help rather than a hindrance to agriculture.

He said: “Farmers should be offered support to live alongside beavers including a hierarchy of management starting with education, then practical solutions like protecting trees or crops or dam removal, then translocation if issues persist in areas of high risk to infrastructure such as levees, and finally lethal control if all else fails.

“Killing beavers should be the last thing in our minds as we encourage people to welcome them back, but if it is necessary then it should done by a licensed professional and only after evidence demonstrates the need. As we have been reminded by months of drought and devastating pollution from farming and sewage, we need help from nature for humans to thrive.

“Beavers can help breathe life back into our degraded and polluted land, without reducing food production. In fact, beavers and other natural solutions like paying farmers for river buffers are essential to sustainable future harvests and saving Britain’s rivers.”

An NFU spokesperson said: “Despite the government publishing more information on the management and licensing of beavers in England, the NFU is disappointed this has been done without wider consultation with farmers and landowners.

“We would like to see government further engage with farmers and landowners before it finalises the national approach to the wild release of beavers.

“Farmers are continuing to work around the clock to produce the nation’s food and will be rightly asking government for adequate tools and support to manage a species that could impact their business and on food production.”

More than half (52 per cent) of British voters think Liz Truss will be a poor or terrible prime minister, with little more than one in 10 (12 per cent) expecting her to be good or great, according to a new poll.

Andrew Woodcock www.independent.co.uk 

And a clear majority believe the Tory leadership frontrunner will be worse than every other prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, with the exception of Boris Johnson.

The findings, in a YouGov poll, indicate that Ms Truss can expect little or no “honeymoon period” if she is confirmed as Mr Johnson’s successor as expected on Monday.

And she may struggle to drum up the enthusiasm of her own party’s supporters, with Conservative voters regarding her as a downgrade from Johnson, with 43 per cent saying she will be worse and just 20 per cent better than the outgoing PM.

If she wins, she will face the unique position for an incoming prime minister of having neither a mandate from a general election nor the support of a majority of her MPs in a leadership vote, having relied for her victory on the ballot of about 160,000 grassroots Tory members.

Just 2 per cent of those questioned said they expected Ms Truss to be a “great” prime minister, against 10 per cent who said she would be “good”, 20 per cent “average”, 17 per cent “poor” and 35 per cent “terrible”.

Her ratings were comparable with those of Mr Johnson, who is being forced out of office after a revolt by his own MPs: 5 per cent of voters thought he had been a “great” occupant of 10 Downing Street, 17 per cent “good”, 19 per cent “average”, 16 per cent “poor” and 39 per cent “terrible”.

In a head-to-head, voters were evenly split over whether they preferred Truss to Johnson, with each favoured by 24 per cent and 37 per cent saying they were about the same.

But Ms Truss rated poorly compared to any other PM of the past 40 years.

Forty-five per cent expected her to be worse than Mrs Thatcher, against 9 per cent who said she would be better. Compared with John Major, Truss was seen as worse by 36-14 per cent, and she trailed Tony Blair by 42-20, Gordon Brown by 38-21, David Cameron by 38-15 and Theresa May by 34-19.

Meanwhile, her proposals for tax cuts in response to the energy crisis were regarded less favourably by voters than Keir Starmer’s plan for a price freeze and Rishi Sunak’s promise of direct payments and a VAT holiday.

Presented with the plans without the politicians advocating them being identified, just 47 per cent said Truss’s scheme was a good idea, against 69 per cent for the Labour leader and 62 per cent for the former chancellor.

Just 13 per cent said they had faith in Ms Truss to deal with the cost of living crisis, well behind the 31 per cent who trusted Starmer and 21 per cent Sunak on the issue.

The cost of living was the top issue that voters felt the new PM should be focusing on, with three-quarters (74 per cent) naming it in their top three, followed by the economy (47 per cent) and climate change (28 per cent).

And 77 per cent said the government was not doing enough to support people faced with rocketing bills for essentials such as heating, food and fuel.

On a raft of issues ranging from the Ukraine war to Brexit, the NHS and managing the economy, large majorities said they did not trust Ms Truss to make the right decisions for the country. Even on her best subject of defence, those distrusting her outnumber those with faith by a margin of 53 to 24 per cent.

YouGov’s findings were based on two surveys, of 1,708 adults in the UK on 24-25 August and of another 1,651 on 29-30 August.

Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has accused the Conservatives of planning to lose the next general election.

Gemma McSherry www.theguardian.com 

Streeting said he was confident Labour would win when the country next goes to the polls.

Speaking before the new Conservative leader and prime minister is announced on Monday, Streeting told the Daily Telegraph: “I think the Conservatives are planning to lose the next general election.”

The current government’s plans to cap the number of medical students, Streeting believes, is evidence that the Conservatives have “concluded there’s no point recruiting medicine trainees because they’re not going to come into work until there’s a Labour government in place. I think that’s recklessly shortsighted”.

Streeting went on to say that the UK government should be “developing our homegrown talent for the NHS”, adding that it was turning away “bright young people from university places they desperately want to take up. That is threatening the future pipeline.”

In August, the education secretary, James Cleverly, said the NHS was increasing recruitment, despite the government’s refusal to lift the cap on medical student admissions this year.

Streeting went on to voice doubt on Tory plans for the NHS, suggesting that extra funding for the health service would have to come with some kind of reform.

“There’s no doubt in my mind – and this is why Liz Truss is being dishonest with the public – that there isn’t a fix to the NHS crisis that doesn’t involve more investment,” he told the Telegraph.

Streeting said that he could not foresee a fix for the NHS in the long term that “can involve huge amounts of extra money every year. Because at that point, the NHS begins to look unsustainable. We can’t just keep on pouring in more money.”

After his own successful treatment for kidney cancer, Streeting said he was keen to ensure that the NHS is fit for purpose in the 21st century. He said: “We can’t let our reverence [for the NHS] prevent us from making the changes that are needed.”

“There will always be people in the system who say, ‘But that’s not how we do things’. I want to work with the system rather than to fight the system. But, ultimately I’ll always do what’s in the best interest of patients.”

His comments came as the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said he was ready to deliver his plans to tackle the challenges facing the country.

Starmer, who turned 60 on Friday, told the Daily Mirror: “I am going to set out in my conference speech our roadmap, our plan for Britain and how Labour will give Britain the fresh start it needs.”

The party’s plans to help with fuel bills include freezing the energy price cap until April.

He also vowed to address longer-term challenges such as the climate crisis and rebuilding the economy.

Wes Streeting praises staff; condems government

Waiting times at Derriford Hospital have have been slammed by the shadow health secretary after he saw the challenges first hand. 

Philip Churm, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Wes Streeting met patients and staff at the hospital alongside Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Plymouth Moor View Gareth Derrick. 

It comes as figures show over 46,000 people waiting for treatment at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, with 41 percent of them on the list for more than 18 weeks.  

Ambulance waiting times were also criticised as official figures show patients using South Western Ambulances face among the longest delays in the country. 

Response times for category 2 patients, including heart attacks and strokes,  typically take more than an hour, compared to target times of just 18 minutes. 

Wes Streeting said: “Despite the huge efforts of the dedicated staff and management at Derriford Hospital, I saw first-hand the patients waiting in ambulances, the queues outside A&E and the desperately sad sight of patients on trolleys in a corridor. 

“This isn’t unique to Derriford; we’re seeing this right across the country as a direct result of Conservative mismanagement of the NHS.”

Gareth Derrick added: “We met the chief executive and senior clinical staff at Derriford and can only be impressed by their spirit and determination to improve the care they provide to patients. 

“But the improvements needed can only come from political commitment and that is sorely lacking under the Conservative government.”

However, Tories have pledged to increase the NHS budget by £34 billion by 2023-24 which they say is the biggest cash boost in its history.

The money includes providing £850 million for 20 hospital upgrades and £2.7 billion for six new hospitals. 

But the favourite to win the Tory leadership competition, Liz Truss, was  criticised recently for pledging to divert billions of pounds earmarked for the NHS into social care. 

In 2009, Ms Truss co-authored a report calling for patients to be charged for GP appointments and doctors’ pay to be cut by 10 per cent.  Truss’s leadership campaign team insisted “co-authoring a document does not mean that someone supports every proposal put forward.” 

Last month Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard visited Derriford Hospital with shadow minister for mental health and Labour MP for Tooting, Rosena Allin-Khan. 

Mr Pollard spoke of the need for “bigger thinking” by the government to address pressures on the NHS and to find an alternative to current GP-led system of healthcare.