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Infrastructure Crisis

3 articles

Britain Adds Another City's Worth of People While Its Infrastructure Crumbles

• via The Independent

Britain Adds Another City's Worth of People While Its Infrastructure Crumbles

The Second-Largest Population Surge in 75 Years Exposes a State That Can't Plan, Can't Build, and Can't Tell the Truth

The UK population grew by 755,254 in the year to June 2024, driven almost entirely by migration. This surge, the second-largest since World War Two, strains already collapsing public services and infrastructure. Amidst political theatre about digital ID cards, the real issue is a state incapable of planning or building for its population.

The £200 Billion Extraction: How Privatisation Became Britain's Longest-Running Wealth Transfer

• via The Guardian

The £200 Billion Extraction: How Privatisation Became Britain's Longest-Running Wealth Transfer

Four decades of privatisation have funneled £193bn from UK households to shareholders, while infrastructure decays and bills soar.

Since 1991, £193 billion has been extracted from British households and transferred to shareholders of privatised utilities, while promised competition and efficiency delivered polluted rivers, unreliable trains, and soaring bills. This isn't a policy debate anymore. It's a measurable wealth transfer operating at industrial scale.

The Anatomy of Extraction: How Thames Water Turned Emergency Aid Into Executive Enrichment

• via The Guardian

The Anatomy of Extraction: How Thames Water Turned Emergency Aid Into Executive Enrichment

Thames Water's executives pocketed £15.7m in bonuses while 16 million customers face hosepipe bans.

While 16 million customers face hosepipe bans this summer, Thames Water's executives have successfully converted a £3bn emergency lifeline into personal windfalls totaling £15.7m. The company that can't maintain water supplies during a shortage somehow found £2.46m to pay 21 managers in April—from funds meant to prevent corporate collapse.