As we approached the hottest day in history ever, our water, and that of several thousand others in half a dozen local postcodes, was cut off for about 18 hours. Who knew that one, giant, Victorian water main running through a field in Witney supplies a big chunk of this part of the Cotswolds and that when it cracks, it brings everything to a halt. You’d suppose that Thames Water might know this. Dig a little, and you’ll find that our friendly, local water utility is now owned by ‘a mix of private equity and sovereign wealth funds’. Not the sovereign wealth of our own, dear Queen, I’m sure, and not a ‘mix’ likely to care much about the welfare of a pipe in Witney. Or much else besides making a profit and getting out on top, dry and without a trace of sewerage.
“Sunak and Hunt accused of ‘damaging UK plc’ over NatWest boss’s exit”
Here’s the flip side. Should a business not have the right to choose whom it serves? If you as a client, or more likely potential client, rub us up the wrong way, are a declared anti-vaxxer or support the barges, can we not, as a business, say ‘Be Gone’?
