Neil Pithouse

@BBCWiltshire Please send your ideas, no matter how ludicrous, to Swindon Borough Council!! This smacks of headline hunting desperation in the run up to the election in May from a council leadership that has generated little goodwill or momentum in the last three years. Embarrassing.

Car park could be converted into TV and movie set bbc.in/4bMmlLz

@Alan_b1 @Feargal_Sharkey I can think of several MP's that have gone to prison. Can't think of a single utilities CEO that's even been arrested.

@Feargal_Sharkey There is never accountability. I can’t recall the last utilites CEO or politician being arrested charged and spending any time in prison. They’re all in it together and don’t want to set a precedent.

"Water companies are ruining our seaside — prison is the only deterrent." Cracking idea but here's the thing. The Environment Agency already has the power to bring prosecutions resulting in a maximum jail sentence of 5 years, unlimited fines, and under the Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation orders. How many water company executives do you think have ever been investigated never mind prosecuted by the EA? thetimes.com/travel/inspira…

@NickSmi85755728 @CatHobbs @ZackPolanski Nobody likes paying bills or taxes and politicians want to be liked/adored as that's where the votes are. They didn't want the condemnation every time the 'state' put up water bills so they privatised that abuse. Job done, blame the water companies when bills rose.

If ever this economic illiterate gets his hands anywhere near the levers of power I dread to think how appalling our young people's future will be. The reason why water was privatised was because the government had no money to modernise it. Name just one part of the public sector that is remotely well run.

Excellent speech from @ZackPolanski, time to bring water into public ownership 👏👏👏 We don't have to destroy nature for shareholder returns We don't have to rack up bills while a handful of people profit Every penny could be reinvested back into the system

@GreenRForest @CommonsEFRA @HarperAdamsUni If farmers seek professional inheritance tax advice they'll likely find ways to reduce their tax burden. What they mustn't do is sit and complain and do nothing. Fail to plan and you plan to fail.

@CommonsEFRA @HarperAdamsUni Excellent agritech investment! But UK inheritance taxes force these students' family farms to sell. We're training agritech talent then undermining their futures. 🚜

This week, we visited @harperadamsuni to learn more about their cutting edge agritech research and speak to students about the future of the farming workforce.

@Keir_Starmer A resolution "in the best interests of the British people"... that is sickening.

I condemn in the strongest terms the overnight Iranian strike on a Qatari gas facility. We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people – because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.

@mrcjstevens @neilrobinson_88 @SaveOasis Too high profile to be spent elsewhere I think but it has to be spent by March 2030 and with no private sector funding having materialised yet it could run out of time especially if Labour lose control of SBC.

@NeilPithouse @neilrobinson_88 @SaveOasis Given that this money isn't ring fenced id be surprised if any venue gets built after election season! That money will be absorbed by other needs no doubt!

Some reaction to today's £20m Entertainment Venue news. The Oasis is far from forgotten.

@mrcjstevens @neilrobinson_88 @SaveOasis Venue is allegedly going to cost £45 million so SBC will have to find £25 million. 18 months ago it was going to cost £35 million although Jim Robbins claimed it could probably be done for £15 million. Funny that SBC always have money for their big projects but not for our Oasis.

@neilrobinson_88 @SaveOasis sbc are happy to borrow the rest of the £20m shortfall for a temporary structure but refused to borrow money to restore the Oasis themselves or indeed ring fence the £6m seven capital want to sell it back to them for once it's reopened,the hypocrisy is breathtaking and suspicious

@DaleVince @WindrushWasp I assume you support the nationalisation of the energy industry as well. Capacity stripped out, constantly rising bills, massive profits made and prioritising dividends to foreign shareholders whilst ordinary people have to choose whether to heat or eat.

Our privatised water industry is not just dirty, not just toxic - it’s lethal. We need to take it back into public control. Decades long failures to invest what is needed, despite constantly rising bills - prioritising dividends to foreign shareholders instead - and now this. It's criminal neglect. Putting money before people - looks like this. Privatisation looks like this. theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/m…

@ITFCWOSC @jimrobbins @BarclaysWSL This shows contempt for the Women's team and is clearly intended to 'put them in their place'. No doubt the usual "didn't intend" "fully support" "committed" statement will be delivered in due course.

Official ITFCWOSC statement on the WSL2 decision to schedule all final WSL2 league fixtures on the same day as the final men's championship fixtures. @BarclaysWSL

@NickJ_UK @WindrushWasp The debt has largely been written off by the original lenders and sold on at deep discounts. The new debt holders know that water companies, like @thameswater, are effectively bankrupt so more fool them for buying it in the first place. I won't be crying for them.

@WindrushWasp Many questions. For example, will the government re-finance £82 billions of debt? Good luck to them finding this amount of money given all other spending pressures. If banks are supposed to provide funding, the debt contracts will still include all the covenants (“instructions”).

Roll up Our captured and blackmailed government v Some of the best financial predators in the world. 16 million water customers (aka victims) are the prize. Anyone thinking this will end well?

@MartinSLewis Voted self service but I prefer staffed tills however I don't need to use them and leave them for people who do need staff on a till. There may be a lot of staffed tills in the shops I visit but very few, if any, are actually open.

Today's Poll: With 15 items of supermarket shopping would you choose a self-service till or staffed till if the queue was of equal length?

@BannersOTW Early bird seated for an adult next season works out at £17.50 per game in Swindon (30 games) or 12 monthly payments 'spread the cost' £18.83. My concession season is going up from £400 to £450 - 12.5% increase if I'm doing the maths right. Spread the cost would be £475. Ouch.

Leeds seated adult works out as £16.50/game for early bird or £18/game for 30 games which is pre-season and league/cup group games. Playoffs and extra cup games not included. Single game adult seat at halfway this season is £19.50 before any fees.

@Feargal_Sharkey Trouble is Britain's politicians are equally as guilty and complicit. Reading the open letter I reached the conclusion that elections are looming and that is why he's talking tough, it has nothing to do with any real concern for our planet or rivers.

Thames Water's fat cat crime boss Chris Weston refuses to meet with Basingstoke council leaders. Yep, that the kind of arrogance you get when you know you're never going to be investigated, know you're never going to be prosecuted, know you'll never be held to account. The water industry is nothing more than a criminal enterprise operating in a failed state. basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/25923388.…

@EmmaforWycombe Their vehicles can already be seized and crushed but that hasn't stopped them. They'll just drive without licences and insurance. Greed will out just as it does in the water industry.

This Labour government is tackling waste crime head‑on. Under new plans, fly‑tippers will face points on their driving licence and even risk losing it altogether.

@wrurestore @WindrushWasp @BBCWalesNews @DwrCymru @Feargal_Sharkey @WATERSHED_i @CleanIlkley @watervole3 @RiverActionUK @WGClimateChange @ZackPolanski @DelythJewellAM @WelshGovernment Why does it take 6 years from opening an investigation to get to the conclusion?

C’mon @BBCWalesNews, you are better than this. No interview or critique of the appalling & lying @DwrCymru, taking their statement as gospel. Where is the £45M coming from apart from the customer? It can only come from the customer! Do your homework! #poorjournalism

@Keir_Starmer @RachelReevesMP @Ed_Miliband Price gouging is the order of the day across the UK. Britain's politicians & regulators have been complicit in building a culture based on ripping off the British people. If it'll grab a headline you beat your chest and talk tough but nothing really changes e.g. water industry.

If fuel companies try to rip off customers, my government will step in. @RachelReevesMP and @Ed_Miliband are bringing the bosses of the fuel companies in today, to make sure that customers aren’t losing out because of the conflict in the Middle East.

@NationCymru Building this tall are scary... think Grenfell. Been a long time since I saw it but the line I remember from the movie Towering Inferno is that there's no sure way to fight a fire above the seventh floor.

A 50-storey tower which is set to be the tallest building in Wales has been approved for construction wp.me/p8Mk4U-1h71

@LondonBroncosRL Ouch - 9 out and season only just beginning!!

The club would like to provide an injury update ahead of the Preliminary Round of the 1895 Cup. Medical Report: londonbroncosrl.com/medical-report…

@MartinSLewis I assume 'price-on-delivery-day' will only ever go up, never down.

HOME HEATING OIL & LPG CRISIS This is a short summary of issues identified from 1,000s responses we (MSE) have had to build a dossier to send to govt... 1. SHARP PRICE INCREASES. A typical pattern is prices increasing from 55p to 65p per litre to £1.20 to £1.45 per litre or £1.60+ per litre if a delivery is needed quickly. - Prices have surged leaving some households unable to afford essential heating - Reports of supply shortages, with some firms not quoting at all for bulk deliveries, stating “no stock” or “no oil available” - Households told only smaller boxes are available for £3.15 per litre around 5x the normal bulk delivery price. - Some considering or actually switching off heating to preserve what little oil they had left - Severe emotional and financial strain especially for older, disabled and low‑income households 2: UNFAIR PRACTICES. Orders not being fulfilled as expected, even when placed earlier or already paid for. - Firms cancelling already‑placed orders, even fully paid ones or demanding more money - Re‑quotes after cancellation massively increase the price, leaving households financially exposed - New ‘price‑on‑delivery‑day’ policies remove price certainty and shift all risk onto consumers, who have no idea of cost - People running out of oil, including medically vulnerable users, feel forced to accept inflated prices - Problems with refunds and additional surcharges on refunds 3: LACK OF REGULATION- "IT'S THE WILD WEST" There is widespread anger that heating‑oil is an “unregulated, unprotected” market. - People feel abandoned, heating oil & LPG users have no regulator, no affordability support, and no safety net. - People are confused about their rights and whether many current practices are even legal We will be sending a larger version today to the top of the Department for Energy and working on a full portfolio of problems and case studies to send in a week on top to the CMA and Energy Committee.

@brianki72506663 @Mainlysports1 @soigomaa How many died as victims of war?