Our monstrous MPs - by Richard... Sunday, July 03, 2011

Our monstrous MPs - by Richard... Sunday, July 03, 2011

The Mail - presumably for Monday publication – is running a story on "absent fathers" who defy orders to pay towards their children's care.

The paper retails the views of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, which is to recommend immediate suspension of their driving licences and passports, plus curfew orders and new powers to deduct money from their bank accounts.

There were warnings, the paper says, that it would be "madness" to strip "runaway" parents of their licences as it could cost them their jobs and their ability to contribute to their children's upkeep, but – as always – it misses the point.

There is already something very sinister about the state using withdrawal of passports and driving licenses as penalties, for issues unrelated to the holding of those specific documents. But then to suggest that officials should have the power to remove them, without even having to go to court, is monstrous.

That the idea should then come from MPs is staggering. In theory, MPs are supposed to be our representatives, protecting us from the overarching power of the state. But here they are, acting as an arm of the state, recommending more powers for officials.

If ever you needed an example of how Westminster has ceased to be our protector, and turned into our enemy, this is it.

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Forever failing to perform - by Richard...

Water companies are draining the nation's most at-risk rivers dry, causing environmental damage, death to wildlife and the build-up of chemicals that upset fragile aquatic ecosystems, all of which could result in ever-higher bills for consumers.

So says the Independent on Sunday, citing an as-yet-unpublished report from the Policy Exchange – it is not due out until tomorrow.

What the paper deigns to tells us of the report, though, makes for disturbing reading, on several counts. Up front, though, what is worrying is the warning that "the cost of remedy" may be passed to consumers – the typical response to any problem ... we pay more.

I have greater concern, however, about what has not been said. And in this, we have been there before. Back in July 2007, we had Booker reporting once again that implementing EU directives had so far cost £65 billion, then in the context of Baroness Young warning that we faced soaring water bills to pay for the deficiencies in "infrastructure" brought to light by the then recent floods.

In the context of the current concern, the relevant parts of the "infrastructure" are reservoirs and the distribution system. On the one hand, spending on new reservoirs has been pitifully inadequate while, on the other, leakage rates continue to be intolerable.

Add to that, the inherent incompetence and inefficiencies of the water companies, and their "obscene bonuses" and it comes as absolutely no surprise that we have a dysfunction industry that is forever failing to perform, and coming back to us with its hand out for more money.

Another thing we must observe is that the great experiment in privatisation – the jewel in the crown of the Thatcher regime – is looking less brilliant as the years go by. Certainly, the "gem" of water privatisation is looking more like tacky paste, with no prospect of any improvement. Once again, it seems, we've been had.

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