Bring water firms in England and Wales into public ownership, commission urges

Public ownership of the water industry in England and Wales is the best way to cut bills, reduce pollution and invest in repairing infrastructure, according to a wide-ranging people’s commission into the industry.Set up by four academics with expertise in economics, water governance and the law to “fill the gaps” of the government-appointed Cunliffe commission, the inquiry will present its findings to MPs on Monday.Ewen McGaughey, a professor of law at King’s College London who is one of the academics involved, said: “We all want clean water, and in the latest YouGov poll 82% of the British public said that we should bring our water into public ownership.“Our recommendations are that the British public is right, the evidence supports them, and we should move to a new modern, public water system because this is the best way to cut bills, stop pollution, invest in repairs and give everyone a voice. We can have clean water or privatised water but we can’t have both

Low water levels push up shipping costs on Europe’s rivers amid heatwave

Low water levels after heatwaves and drought are limiting shipping on some of Europe’s biggest rivers including the Rhine and the Danube and pushing up transport costs.As much of Europe swelters in hot temperatures, water levels in its main rivers have fallen. This is affecting shipping along the Rhine – one of Europe’s key waterways – south of Duisburg and Cologne in Germany, including the choke point of Kaub, forcing vessels to sail about half full.Rainfall over the weekend caused only a moderate rise in water levels, according to commodity traders.Shallow water has prompted ship operators to impose surcharges on freight rates to compensate for vessels not sailing fully loaded, increasing costs for cargo owners

Trump takes on the Fed – but he has little power over central bank, economists say

For months, Donald Trump has ranted on social media and, at one point, threatened to fire the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell. Last week, he took on a new, unusual tactic: a handwritten note.“You have cost the USA a fortune and continue to do so. You should lower the rate – by a lot!” Trump wrote to Powell, whom he calls “Too Late” in one of his less compelling nicknames.That Trump has targeted the Fed isn’t surprising

Qantas contacted by suspected cyber criminal but airline won’t confirm if hacking ransom demanded

A potential cyber criminal has made contact with Qantas, the airline has confirmed, after a major attack on its network exposed the personal records of up to 6 million customers.In a statement on Monday evening, a spokesperson for Qantas said the Australian federal police (AFP) had been engaged but the airline would not confirm if a ransom was being sought for the compromised personal data.“A potential cyber criminal has made contact and we are currently working to validate this,” the spokesperson said.“As this is a criminal matter, we have engaged the Australian federal police and won’t be commenting any further on the detail of the contact.“There is no evidence that any personal data stolen from Qantas has been released but, with the support of specialist cyber security experts, we continue to actively monitor

London ‘super sewer’ boss awarded £600,000 pay rise despite £100m cost overrun

The chief executive of the London “super sewer” project has been awarded a £600,000 pay rise even as the firm revealed that the total cost had risen by £100m.Andy Mitchell received pay of £2.5m for the year to March 2025, up from £1.9m the year before, according to accounts published by the Thames Tideway tunnel builder, Bazalgette Tunnel Limited.The Tideway project is seen as a crucial upgrade to London’s sewage system, which had been reliant on sewers designed during the reign of Queen Victoria by Joseph Bazalgette

Property prices flat in June amid signs UK job market may be ‘softening’

The housing market was flat in June as signs emerge that the UK jobs market may be “softening”, one of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders has said.The average price for a house in the UK was £296,665 in June, according to Halifax, compared with £296,782 in May. It comes after a slight drop of 0.3% in May, although the average house price was still about 2.5% higher in June compared with a year earlier