Politics
The House | Lib Dem MP Pippa Heylings: “Reform Wants People To Go Down The Mines Again”
Pippa Heylings MP (Photography by Dinendra Haria)
8 min read
Liberal Democrat net-zero lead Pippa Heylings tells Noah Vickers the Tories have made a serious tactical error in resiling from action on climate change
As Nigel Farage kindly undertakes a thorough “spring cleaning” for the Conservatives, with the offer of a home for unhappy MPs, Kemi Badenoch’s right flank is falling away. She has not, however, changed tack to lean into her more centrist base.
With the Tories now opposed to their own 2050 net-zero target, the Liberal Democrats believe Badenoch is making a mistake – one they are happy to exploit.
Ed Davey’s party gained 60 seats from the Tories at the last election, mostly in rural and suburban areas across the south of England, and at the heart of their campaign was anger over sewage being discharged by water companies into rivers and seas.
According to Pippa Heylings, the Lib Dems’ energy spokesperson, turning the Conservatives further away from net-zero action will help her party “solidify” its grip on those formerly Conservative seats.
The 61-year-old MP for South Cambridgeshire points to polling from More in Common, which last year showed that around 25 per cent of those who voted Lib Dem consider ‘climate change and the environment’ to be one of the top issues facing the country – almost twice the proportion of the public as a whole.
“At the moment, you’ve got Reform, who are weaponising concerns around net-zero”, she says, and “the Conservatives recklessly rowing back on the very infrastructure they created to tackle climate change, which is the Climate Change Act”.
Many of the Tory MPs who now claim that the UK’s 2050 net-zero target is causing damage to the economy – like shadow cabinet member Andrew Bowie – were the same people who helped enshrine the goal into law in 2019.
“Andrew Bowie was Theresa May’s private secretary when that happened,” Heylings points out. “I can’t understand the cognitive dissonance of that – except pure politics.”
Badenoch and Farage, she says, are fighting over a relatively small minority of voters who are opposed to the net-zero target.
The result? Lib Dems will find it easier to hold and gain seats.
“I think they’re underestimating the appetite for more on climate change,” she says of the Conservatives and Reform. “Our polling, consistently, is showing that. Energy companies are doing this polling as well, and they’re finding exactly the same.”
Voters in her constituency, she insists, “really worry” about global warming, and tell her so on the doorstep.
“What they say is: ‘I really want to know that we’re handing on a better world, because it’s a scary world now, and I want to hand on a better world to the next generation’.”
Speaking at last year’s Lib Dem conference, Heylings pledged that her party would take on “the myths being peddled” about net-zero by parties on the right. But are they doing that forcefully enough?
“We can always do better,” she admits. “We’ve got to find the cut-through in the media to hear us, but in the Chamber, time after time – if you just look at what the Lib Dems are doing – we are constantly challenging that.”
When Richard Tice chucks out his “net-stupid zero” phrase, Heylings counters it with “fracking stupid Reform”.
“Reform wants people to go down the pits again,” she argues. “They want them to go down the mines again. This is not going forwards.”
What does Heylings make of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband?
“I think he’s doing very well,” she says, particularly delighted by news that the UK has joined nine other European countries in accelerating the rollout of windfarms in the North Sea, which will be internationally linked via interconnector cables.
“We are actually looking at a collective offshore wind target that will power millions and millions of homes and will drive the costs down. To me, this is just absolutely brilliant.”
Her “one concern” is that amid such heavy focus on energy security, Miliband and his department are not paying anywhere near enough attention to the net-zero half of his brief.
“That’s why we brought forward the Climate and Nature Bill,” she says, referring to a Private Members’ Bill that the government refused to back. “We have to be looking at adaptation and resilience as well. How communities – and the environment that we’re in – can be resilient to the climate shocks we can no longer avoid.”
For Heylings, Labour’s most damaging move since taking office has been its decision to put nature against growth. Ministers have suggested there is a binary choice between, for example, protecting newts and getting homes built.
It is a “lazy” approach, she says. “You can do both growth and nature recovery. We’ve proven it. It’s what I’m dedicating my life to – that balance.”
The MP, a previous planning committee chair on her local council, adds: “I’ve worked with developers, and I know that if you get the rules clear, you’ve got policy certainty, they will absorb that need.”
Prior to her involvement in politics, Heylings worked internationally with NGOs, governments and charities, including eight years in East Africa and 15 years in Latin America and the Caribbean. In that time, she served as a policy adviser to the UK’s international climate policy programme, supported governments at global COP summits and played a key role in the creation of the Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve.
“It completely changed my outlook on the world,” she recalls. “On the interdependency of society, prosperity and natural resources. That was because I was seeing it at levels where people were living on the edge – literally, in terms of poverty.
“Climate change was already impacting those communities, so you could see immediately the impact of resource scarcity throwing whole communities into desperate situations.”
When she returned to the UK in 2012, she joined the Green Party, having been inspired by their manifesto for youth. After a couple of years, she found herself put off by the party’s anti-markets stance.
“I know that we need disruption, entrepreneurialism, innovation – we need the markets, in a regulated way. That’s what I found with the Lib Dems. I found governable policy.”
Since Zack Polanski’s election as leader, the Greens have overtaken the Lib Dems in national opinion polls, leaving her party trailing in fifth place. Does Heylings see Polanski as a threat to the Lib Dems’ ability to attract environmentally minded voters?
“What is needed right now is for the voices across all parties to be as strong as possible, to bring us back to the need to tackle the climate and environment crisis,” she replies. “So it’s good, for me, that there are loud Green Party voices as well and that they’re getting airtime.”
She appears similarly relaxed when asked why the Lib Dems are failing to make more progress of their own in the polls.
“Last year we had our best local elections and we beat – for the first time ever – both Conservatives and Labour in terms of the number of seats we won,” she says, adding that the party has continued to score impressively in council by-elections since then. “When you actually put ballots in boxes, people are choosing us.”
Yet there is clearly debate amongst the party’s MPs as to whether a wider policy prospectus and stronger messaging is needed.
One of Heylings’ disgruntled colleagues recently told The Guardian that Davey and his team must “move with significant pace towards the development of a national story for the party to tell”. Are they right about that?
“I don’t support anybody talking outside the party in that way,” says Heylings. “I think, like every party, we are internally working on that. There may be colleagues who want to work at a faster pace, but we are working on it.”
While she sees anonymous briefings to the media as unhelpful, Heylings insists she is “absolutely” in favour of an internal debate about what the national narrative should be, adding: “I want that to be as live and robust as possible – and we’re having it.”
Another reported complaint among her colleagues is that the Lib Dems lack a “big retail offer on the economy”. Does the party have one of those?
“It’s coming,” she whispers. “You will see the beginnings of that at the spring conference.”
She tells The House that this offer will “help define and differentiate us”, while also relating to her brief around climate and energy costs.
With that work under way, the MP goes so far as to claim it is possible that the Lib Dems could become Britain’s next official opposition.
“I’m very ambitious. I’m ambitious in terms of: we want to be the next official opposition. Absolutely.”
Some might say, given how the Lib Dems are currently polling, she sounds worryingly similar here to 2019-era Jo “next PM” Swinson. Does Heylings really believe that is doable? “Yes,” she replies.
“We are listening very hard right now. You can’t just go in and say, ‘This is what we’ll do’. We’re listening very hard to know, in the seats that we want to win, what else do we need to be offering, and how do we need to be offering it. You will be hearing from us.”
Handwritten notes made in prison by serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein show him writing “jail out = 10”. It may well indicate that Epstein expected to be out of prison on the 10th day of a month, which is, of course, the day he allegedly died. Or, it could be the ramblings of a predatory child rapist who was becoming increasingly unhinged.
Epstein’s handwritten notes: clues or ramblings?
Epstein’s ‘death’ has now been cast into doubt by evidence found in the latest release of US government files. Prosecutors prepared an announcement of his supposed suicide a day before it happened. A subpoena revealed that an anonymous message board post describing Epstein’s removal from prison – posted before his ‘death’ was announced – had been written by a prison guard on duty that night.
The latest discovery will only fuel suspicions that Epstein is still alive.
File EFTA00134596 and its adjacent release EFTA00134597 contain notes scribbled on a yellow pad in Epstein’s spidery handwriting. While much of it is either coded or difficult to read, much also is not.
One of the pages, alongside sketches that may show containers or building layouts, has clear mentions of:
• Israel
• Jet – US prop
• Guards
• govt clear
• Niger/Nigeria
• Visa
• Red notice (a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action).
• Gangsters
• Banks
• Computer
• Tourist
• Gaza
• Muslim
Along with several names:
But the other is briefer. Shown upside down in the file, when rotated it shows, among initials:
• JAIL OUT = 10
What all of this means when put together is unclear – but it could be that Epstein was laying out his train of thought around some kind of plan. Or, it could be the desperate and deranged scribblings of a man who, even then, did not care about his victims – only himself. All of this will only add to speculation the child rapist’s death was not all that it seemed.
For more on the the Epstein Files, please read our article on how the media circus around Epstein is erasing the experiences of victims and survivors here.
Featured image via the Canary
Bad Bunny’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday night may have received widespread praise and become one of the most-watched of all time, but it didn’t go entirely without a hitch.
To audiences, the Grammy winner’s tribute to Puerto Rico and Latin America looked like a tightly-produced spectacle, but those who worked behind the scenes have admitted there were a few technical issues on the night.
Director Hamish Hamilton and creative director Harriet Cuddeford revealed in an interview with Variety that the crane around the on-stage hut (called the casita) lost digital connection just moments before it was supposed to be shown on live TV.
Hamilton also shared that later in the performance, a low-angle camera near the casita started to wobble after a handheld cameraman and a Chapman dolly collided while trying to capture a section of Bad Bunny’s energetic performance for the viewers at home.
Luckily, most of us were so busy enjoying the spectacle that we didn’t notice this wobble.
The director admitted it was “terrifying” to watch the many camera operators running around the pitch, which was full of wedding guests, street vendors and celebrities, in order to not miss any of the action.
“In the performance of NuevaYol, there are moments when the cameras literally get to their point of shooting half a second before they’re on,” Hamish explained.
Cuddeford also praised the work of the team holding the cameras and capturing the iconic performance.
“The camera work was insane and so intricate and so carefully planned and such a feat, and could have just gone so wrong at any moment,” she enthused.
Luckily, even with these mishaps, the camera operators still managed to capture all the details of the singer’s meaningful halftime show, which featured guest appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.
There were 49,557 offences of coercive control recorded by the police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025, according to domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid.
This is an increase from 45,310 in the year ending March 2024.
Domestic abuse isn’t always physical. “Coercive control creates invisible chains and a sense of fear that pervades all elements of a survivor’s life,” said the charity.
“It works to limit their human rights by depriving them of their liberty and reducing their ability for action.”
Jessica Wilson, managing director at Eventum Legal, suggests that while awareness of coercive control has risen in the past decade since it became a criminal offence, many people still don’t know the full extent of what it can entail.
Signs of coercive control
Gaslighting
Merriam-Webster defines gaslighting as “psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories”.
This typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, said the dictionary, as well as uncertainty of your own emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.
Wilson added that it often involves “denying events, rewriting history or making someone doubt their memory and judgement”.
Isolation
Isolation is a key coercive control tactic that involves restricting or discouraging contact with friends or family. It can be subtle and gradual.
Wilson added: “They might not even say ‘don’t go out’, but their reaction makes you want to stay in and avoid seeing loved ones.”
Financial control
Financial control involves limiting access to money, monitoring spending and forcing someone to account for every expense.
Wilson noted it can start by suggesting they ‘help’ you manage your finances and then escalate to a point where you have nothing of your own.
Blame-shifting
Blame-shifting involves holding the victim responsible for the abuser’s moods or actions.
“This can include perpetrators saying ‘look what you made me do’ or blaming their outburst, [or] bad habits such as drinking, on the victim,” said Wilson.
“They can also withdraw affection or support as a form of punishment.”
If you are a victim of coercive control or any form of domestic abuse, Women’s Aid have a Survivor’s Handbook which can guide you through getting information, support and help to leave safely.
Help and support:
If you, or someone you know, is in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police. If you are not in immediate danger, you can contact:
- The Freephone 24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run by Refuge: 0808 2000 247
- In Scotland, contact Scotland’s 24 hour Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline: 0800 027 1234
- In Northern Ireland, contact the 24 hour Domestic & Sexual Violence Helpline: 0808 802 1414
- In Wales, contact the 24 hour Life Fear Free Helpline on 0808 80 10 800.
- National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0800 999 5428
- Men’s Advice Line: 0808 801 0327
- Respect helpline (for anyone worried about their own behaviour): 0808 802 0321
Politics
Stewart Harper: Why if you are on the frontline of campaigning – Harrogate this year, matters
Stewart Harper is President of the National Conservative Convention, a member of the Board of the Conservative Party, and chaired the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester in October 2025.
Chairing last year’s Party Conference in Manchester was a personal honour, with many highlights not least of which was the closing speech from our Party Leader. Every person I have spoken to since then talked about that speech being a turning point.
Across the four days we demonstrated something very important: that when our members come together, we renew not just our message, but our confidence. Our ideas were sharpened, our energy was restored, and the Party reconnected the people who make it work day in, day out.
Since our time in Manchester, Kemi Badenoch and the Shadow Cabinet have continued to work together – to hold the government to account and demonstrate that it is only the Conservative Party who are developing credible and deliverable plans to get Britain working again.
We are continuing that in Harrogate.
But the truth is, we can’t succeed unless the strengths demonstrated in Manchester percolate throughout the Party. Put it simply, as I said in my opening speech at Conference – Kemi, and the Shadow Cabinet, cannot do it alone. The momentum we have built together must not be kept in a box until the Party Conference comes around again. So this March, Spring Conference returns – this year at the Harrogate Convention Centre – and every Party Member should join us.
Here’s why: Spring Conference brings together activists, councillors, candidates and volunteers from across the country for a weekend focused on ideas, skills and connection. Not sitting still, determining what we might do in three years’ time, but actively developing ourselves and our movement in that renewal – the fruits of which are already visible.
Delivered in partnership with the Campaign Academy and the Conservative Councillors’ Association, the programme is designed to be practical and engaging. And unapologetically optimistic about the Party’s future. And it’s an opportunity to socialise together too – including with a members’ dinner on Saturday night – meeting up with friends and colleagues from across the country.
So, will you join us in Harrogate?
Our Spring Conference offers members a valuable opportunity to hear directly from senior figures within the Party, including the most senior members of the Shadow Cabinet, and to gain first-hand insight into a growing and evolving renewal programme. It is a chance for every Party Member to engage – not through headlines or soundbites, but through thoughtful discussion and shared experience.
Alongside the political content, Spring Conference is firmly focused on delivery.
Development sessions that are designed to “level up” your local campaigns, equipping you with practical skills that you can take back. From campaigning and organisation, to leadership and development, the emphasis is on empowering ourselves to win in May – and to win well.
From crafting your message, establishing an electoral strategy, harnessing the opportunities to use AI in campaigns, having persuasive conversations with voters (or communicating persuasive messages in writing), and ensuring that our supporters get to the polling station (or return their postal vote) in time for the hard work to count.
We’ve brought together a strong range of speakers – both from our own professional team and volunteers, and also from the Leadership Institute. Based in the US, but working around the world, the Leadership Institute is renowned for equipping grassroots activists and emerging leaders with practical, hands-on skills in campaigning, communications and organisation-building, bringing proven, high-energy training methods to our conference. We’ve been working in partnership with them for some time, including in developing our own Campaign Leadership Programme which was reviewed in a recent article on this site. By learning from the best in the world, we can continue the renewal our Party needs.
Of course, there will be some who say that they can’t afford to take time away from their campaigning – and I sympathise. But equally, we have to recognise that investment of time in development is as important as (or perhaps more important) than continuing the approaches already tried and tested.
For those who have elections in 2027 and 2028, in particular, it is essential that we put the work in now. For as former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who joined us in Manchester, is fond of saying: “You can’t fatten the pig on market day.”
But no Party Conference is all work – one of its great strengths is its atmosphere. We saw that in Manchester, and I am sure the same will be true in Harrogate. Yes, having lived in Yorkshire for more than 20 years I know I’m biased – but Harrogate is worth visiting in itself. Harrogate offers the perfect blend of elegant spa-town charm, Yorkshire hospitality and some pretty decent venues, making it an inspiring and welcoming place to come together.
With a full programme of social events, the weekend offers opportunities to relax, network and reconnect with members from across the country. It’s where campaign tips are swapped over coffee, friendships are formed over dinner, and the shared sense of purpose that binds the Party together is most visible.
Spring Conference is about enjoying being part of the Conservative and Unionist Party, and remembering why that matters for our country.
We have a great programme of social events planned, and I know that when people leave Harrogate they will do so with a renewed determination to do all we can in the service of our aims.
Places at Spring Conference are limited, with some events already sold out. If Manchester showed what our members can achieve together, Harrogate offers the chance to build on that success – sooner rather than later – and to ensure that it is not just on the national stage we show our best side, but in every election battle in the coming years.
Spring Conference 2026 is not just another date in the diary – for someone else and not for you. It’s an opportunity for Party Members to learn, connect, and to be ready to shape what comes next.
Join us from 6 to 8 March – tickets are available from www.conservatives.com/spring-conference/
Bridgerton has finally been toppled from the top spot on Netflix’s list of most popular shows in the UK right now.
The forbidden romance between Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek (played by Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha) had captured the hearts of the country, resulting in Bridgerton occupying the number one position on Netflix’s chart for almost two weeks.
However, that love affair is apparently now over – at least temporarily, given that the second half of the season will premiere later this month.
According to the streamer, part one of Bridgerton’s fourth outing has amassed 23.4 million viewers globally since it premiered at the end of January.
In its place, the WWE Raw has now once again risen to the top of the chart, solidifying to Netflix that it made the right decision to stream wrestling content on its platform.
WWE Raw is followed on the streaming chart by Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. Despite the Netflix original documentary first being released in 2020, the recent publication of his emails has evidently piqued users’ interest in the prolific sex offender.
Other shows currently on Netflix’s most-watched list in the UK at the time of writing include the new series of original drama The Lincoln Lawyer and German spy thriller Unfamiliar.
Meanwhile, the Tessa Thompson crime series His & Hers is still holding strong in the top 10, more than a month on from its early January release.
This week, also added all 15 seasons of ER to their platform – and considering that everyone seems to be watching the George Clooney medical drama at the moment, we can expect it to appear in the top 10 in the coming days.
Part one of Bridgerton season four is now streaming on Netflix, with four new episodes of the hit period drama being released on 26 February.
The Saudis have castigated ‘heir to the throne’ William for his Epstein-linked uncle during his visit to Saudi Arabia this week. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with an appalling human rights record, but it is still able to look down on the UK and US establishment’s cosiness with murderous paedophiles.
Saudi media challenged the royal in Riyadh, with a reporter demanding to know whether the Windsors have “done enough around the Andrew and Epstein issue”. He ignored the question and walked off. That’ll be a ‘no’, then.
The US justice department’s latest, intentionally-chaotic release of Epstein files show further disturbing images of Andrew with anonymised girls. They also show Andrew leaking confidential information and Epstein trafficking another young woman to the UK for him. Mountbatten-Windsor paid now-deceased Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre around £12m in an out-of-court settlement. This was funded by the monarchy and therefore by UK taxpayers.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of all titles in December 2025. The public has repeatedly challenged his brother Charles in recent weeks for his failure to take more serious action against him. Charles has now said he will ‘support’ the police investigation.
It remains to be seen how exactly the royal family intends to make any sort of amends to the victims and survivors shoved into the spotlight during this debacle.
Featured image via FCDO
The post Why Letby’s defenders are angry with Netflix appeared first on spiked.
Politics
The House | It must be the Iranian people who decide their fate when the Islamic Republic collapses
Glasgow, January 2026: A candlelit vigil for Iranian protestors | Image by: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert / Alamy
4 min read
That the current regime has lost any sense of moral authority over the vast majority of Iranians is clear
It’s no secret that the situation in Iran is dire. What’s more difficult to determine is an accurate picture of precisely what is going on. We know that the protests that began towards the end of December spread fast and wide, on a scale not seen before in the catalogue of protests that have erupted intermittently, and been quashed violently, since the start of the millennium. This time, it was not only dissatisfaction with social issues but the virtual collapse of the economy which drove even the bazaaries – or shopkeepers – onto the streets in droves.
That the current regime has lost any sense of moral authority over the vast majority of Iranians is clear. Yet the Islamic Republic persists in power through a combination of breathtaking brutality and lack of a suitable alternative. This regime is undoubtedly in its final death throes – the violence demonstrates a desperate struggle to survive another day at any cost – but it’s impossible to say how long it will be before the final breath; will it be quick or long and drawn out? Either way it’s likely to be painful.
And what then? The real question is what will follow once the Islamic Republic collapses. There is no credible opposition around which others will coalesce, only factions and groups, each with their own agendas (some, incidentally, just as dangerous as the status quo). Whatever happens, it must be the Iranian people who decide their fate and build for themselves a better future. Certainly, the support of the international community is essential, but a new government imposed by, say, America, with a puppet leader will not do. That way lies the ongoing cycle of dissatisfaction and corruption, with a people beholden to the whim of external powers, ultimately involved, not because of altruism but for their own self-interest.
A new government imposed by, say, America, with a puppet leader will not do
Right now, foreign media are banned from entering the country and the internet shutdown has virtually cut Iran off from the rest of the world. At best there are sporadic reports; brief spells during which news leaks out and families here, desperate with worry, get snatches of information. I’m trying to stay in touch with a few people, but my WhatsApp messages remain, sometimes for days, showing one tick only – unseen and unread at the other end.
Reportedly, there are anything between a few thousand and 30,000 dead; no one disputes that many of them are young people. Whatever the precise number, it’s too many. And there are countless more injured or in prison. The people I’m in contact with tell me terrorist groups were rampaging the streets, killing and beheading government officials, while the regime didn’t distinguish between them and innocent protesters, clamping down with unprecedented violence.
There are rumours that medical staff treating the injured have been executed. One message I received a few days ago said, “As far as I know, everyone who helped the wounded has either been arrested or killed.” Another, that though “some medical staff were killed in the clashes”, reports of their “execution” is exaggerated. Unsurprisingly, the protests are getting weaker – I’m told they’re now restricted to rooftop chants at night-time – and so, while the country is gripped by “a great sorrow”, inevitably the media are losing interest. I suspect it will only be a matter of time before the cycles of protest and violence repeat themselves.
Meanwhile, the US is amassing troops, threatening to attack Iran, at the same time, holding conversations, hoping to reach some kind of resolution. The future is uncertain and people continue living under violent oppression, unimaginable fear and the catastrophic effects of a failed economy. And these are a proud people – the product of a once great and ancient civilisation; ordinary people longing for freedom, justice, the opportunity to live their lives to the full. They are my countryfolk and I weep for them; they deserve better, much better.
Lord Bishop of Chelmsford is a Lords Spiritual peer
The Canary has revealed how during a 12-month period, water companies leached £22.4m from customers’ Universal Credit via the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
However, in obtaining the figure, we also discovered that the DWP has no record of what each company has been seizing from welfare claimants. When already vulnerable benefits claimants are in debt to water companies, the DWP will then allow these privatised water companies to deduct benefits from desperate claimants.
Apparently it needs saying: water is not a luxury
DWP doesn’t know the scale of water companies’ Universal Credit deductions
The Canary submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests to the department for regional and parliamentary constituency data on water deductions. In order to comply with the request, it appeared that the DWP had to collate this data from its records. In other words, until the Canary queried the proportion of third party deductions the water industry had made, it was not information the DWP had already calculated.
What’s more, through a series of further FOIs, the DWP admitted to the Canary that it doesn’t know how much each water company has deducted individually.
The DWP said that this was because:
data on deduction requests from specific organisations or the date a deduction request was made is not readily available for Universal Credit.
As such, it told the Canary that to “explore the available datasets” and “collate the relevant data” would take it over the cost limits in the FOI Act. But the admission ultimately underscored how the DWP has made no efforts to assess the scale of individual companies clawing back aggressive arrears through the benefits system.
What water companies took £22.4m in Universal Credit?
The Canary also attempted to find out how this divided up for water versus sewerage services. But in response to a further FOI, the DWP said that:
The Universal Credit deductions data does not state the name of a water company owed money, or reason for the debt, and as the water arrears data is not broken down, we cannot determine whether any deduction is for water supply or sewerage.
Unfortunately, outside official statistics, it’s really difficult to get a read on individual water company deductions.
The first reason for this is that water supplier coverage overlaps in some constituencies. So, while we can use obtainable data showing coverage by constituency, companies don’t actually always supply water services to all postcodes within these electoral boundaries.
It’s also not the case constituencies always have the same sewerage providers to their water suppliers. In other words, the deduction could come from either company administering these services. That further complicates calculating what each company is deducting.
However, under the Universal Credit priority order, the water supplier makes deductions first for any arrears. The company providing wastewater services can only start taking deductions once the water debt is cleared.
Because it comes first in the order of priority, it’s probable that the lion’s share of these deductions is for water supply services. Ultimately though, it’s not possible to establish from the data available how much is for water, and how much for sewerage arrears.
Water companies won’t say, naturally
The Canary contacted 13 of the largest water and sewerage companies. We asked them directly to provide figures on their Universal Credit deductions. Predictably, not a single company offered this information. By and large, despite a few initially responding that they would look into this, water firms ignored our query. Only two companies eventually came back to confirm that they were not willing to supply these figures.
A spokesperson for Pennon Group, South West Water’s parent company, responded saying that:
The information you have requested is commercially sensitive but all Universal Credit deductions are managed in line with DWP guidelines.
Meanwhile, Dwr Cymru came back with a similar dismissal:
We’re unable to provide specific figures for Universal Credit deductions received by Dŵr Cymru for 2024 and 2025 as this information is commercially sensitive.
However, we can confirm that deductions are managed in line with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guidelines, including the Fair Repayment Rate and deduction cap changes, which aim to ensure affordability for customers.
Our focus remains on supporting customers in financial difficulty with affordable payment arrangements.
In both instances then, water firms leaned on the claim it’s “commercially sensitive” information to refuse the data.
In reality, it’s nonsense for them to suggest this. For one, water companies already publish data about their ‘bad debt’. As just one example, they will include financial information on County Court Judgements (CCJ) against their customers in annual reports.
More likely, firms fear the reputational fallout of the public learning just how much they’re hammering their poorest customers.
The DWP should turn its attention to the real fraudsters
The Labour government continues to justify brutal disability benefit cuts and dystopian surveillance with nonsense rhetoric around the so-called ‘benefits bill’. Yet, the DWP couldn’t put figures to the welfare it’s funnelling into the pockets of privatised water firms.
Perhaps it’s time the DWP turned its attention to the corporate criminal water corporations draining the welfare system for profits they neither need, nor deserve.
Featured image via the author
lead image
Epstein’s notes mark “JAIL OUT = 10”. Guess what date he ‘died’?
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