South West Water hit with £7.8m fine for ‘horrendous’ pollution offences Water The Environment Agency has fined South West Water £7.8m over a string of pollution-related offences across Devon and Cornwall. The water company pleaded guilty to 24 environmental charges after the Environment Agency investigated incidents that took place between January 2015 and July 2021 in Bodmin, Harlyn, Polperro, Plymouth, and Playing Place. Of the charges, 17 [...]
Nationalise Thames Water and block private rescue deal, MPs tell Burnham Politics Andy Burnham and his government are facing increasing pressure to take control of Thames Water after a group of MPs warned a rescue deal led by its creditors should be rejected. A group of the stricken utility’s lenders, known as London & Valley Water, is vying to seize control of the company in a £10bn [...]
South East Water boss David Hinton resigns Water The chief executive of South East Water, David Hinton, resigned from the embattled utility today, after presiding over one of the scandal-hit industry’s most notorious supply failures. Hinton was in charge during a series of outages in Tunbridge Wells and Kent in November and December 2025. There were more outages last January. As the firm struggled [...]
High Court showdown over alleged ‘procedural irrationality’ in Gatwick runway £2.2bn approval January 20, 2026 The Secretary of State has been accused of reaching “inherently contradictory and irrational” conclusions by finding Gatwick’s second runway would have a “significant adverse effect” on the climate, the High Court heard this morning. The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, greenlit plans for Gatwick Airport’s second runway, the Northern Runway, in September. This was “the largest [...]
Gatwick’s £2.2bn second runway to be challenged in court January 19, 2026 Gatwick Airport’s £2.2bn second runway will be the focus of a legal challenge at the High Court on Tuesday, as an environmental group opposes the government’s decision to grant the approval. In September, Gatwick Airport’s second runway, the Northern Runway, received development consent from the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander. Gatwick has had a northern runway [...]
High Court showdown: Mercedes, Ford and Renault stand accused in Dieselgate trial October 13, 2025 Car manufacturing giants, including Mercedes, Ford and Renault, are set to face a lengthy trial at the High Court over allegations they cheated emissions tests. Knicknamed Dieselgate, the largest group claim ever brought in the UK, is set to kick off at the court on Monday morning for a 10-week trial in front of Lady [...]
Net zero banking group abandons operations after member exodus October 3, 2025 The global Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) has announced it will cease operations following an exodus of its membership after President Donald Trump returned to power. In a statement released on Friday, the group said following a vote it will transfer from a member-based alliance to establish its guidance as a framework. “As a result [...]
A plea from a data centre owner: Stop vilifying us! August 27, 2025 Vast, humming fortresses of silicon and steel, data centres are the unsung titans, not villains, of our digital age, writes Huw Owen Data centres are under siege – not from cyberattacks, but from headline writers. “Thirsty data centres are sucking up Britain’s scarce water supplies,” cried one recent report; another elsewhere warned that the government’s [...]
Rachel Reeves to slash environmental protections to boost builders August 18, 2025 Rachel Reeves is looking to take the axe to environmental protections blocking infrastructure projects in a bid to boost Labour’s building pledges. The Chancellor is considering reforms to prevent nature concerns from inhibiting new developments as she desperately looks to supercharge her growth agenda. Labour’s Planning and Infrastructure bill is in the committee stage at [...]
Businesses to pay £1.1bn in new packaging fees to councils July 26, 2025 Councils in England are set to receive a share of £1.1 billion in recycling funding taken from money charged to companies for the packaging they produce. Under the current system, local councils have footed the bill for disposing of items such as milk bottles, cereal boxes and soup tins using taxpayers’ money. But the new [...]