>>"Lizzie
You know you pay for all the water used by the tourists that come to your lovely area each year.

In return you get all the spin off from the money the tourists spend there.

Be happy."<<<

I'm presuming you're being sarcastic there?   If not, why do other folks who live in areas of outstanding natural beauty, tourist spots etc, pay 50% less for their water than we do?

We were told the high prices were due to the '20 year Clean Up Plan'...that finished this year, but guess what? They can't put the prices down, because NOW they have to pay back the *loans* they took out to achieve that plan! ?????WTF?????   The public have NO way of knowing if this is true or not. What the hell have they done with all the money they took from us these past 20 YEARS???????

We should ALL pay EXACTLY the same amount for our water, no matter where we live. Without it we die. It is different from any other form of 'natural product', and no section of the country should be held to ransom in the way the people of the West Country have for two decades and more...We have the lowest paid jobs down here, the highest house prices, the fewest jobs....Go figure where we are on the Happiness Scale...




>>>"Oh, and in case you forgot, days are reasonably happy for the vast majority of The UK. Things haven't altered one jot since either 2008 banking crisis or the election the other month.

Not one jot..."<<<<

Wanna bet? How EASY it is to sit there on your high, successful chair twittering complete gobbledeegook!

Last week my ex-husband was finally made redundant, after nearly 3 months with NO wage whatsoever. He and others were called down to Plymouth thinking it was a regular meeting, then told their jobs were finished there and then.

Try telling that to the people who worked for Stokes, the greengrocers, who found themselves out of jobs the next day after it had been announced on the News...or the building firm Roc, who are laying off 200 folks down here in the South West after going into liquidation...

Try telling that to the old lady of 83 stood at my bus-stop this morning, whose 53 year old son is due to lose his job in March. He ferries disabled folk around the county. There are 8 drivers at present, being cut to THREE in March. She was talking about Soup Kitchens and people not being able to feed their children....and I think she's right...

Try telling that to the place in Exeter that used to hand out food parcels, who've had to stop, due to the HUGE rise in demand!

Try telling that to the women who worked for the retail company I used to work for, who had their branch closed overnight, when the lease finally ran out, no notice given to them whatsoever, other than on the day it happened....They'll close the one in torquay soon too, I've no doubt....

You are not living in the REAL world, SW, but in SAFE Ivory Tower, from which you now view the world with forgotten thoughts...

Yes, as a miner you decided to pack your bags and start a new life, but today you'd not be able to do that so easily...there are NO loans being given out, there are no jobs in your next town, or the one after that, or the one after that, worthy of leaving home for....

Jobs with no contracts, no protection, no loyalty, minimum wages, maximum hours you're expected to simply 'be there' just in case The Corporate Bastards should want you, because of course, in their eyes you have no right to a LIFE, not even to another job...just merely their very own pet human resource to hire or fire as they want, depending on the amount of profit they've made that week...

Try telling it to folks who are actually SENT home when it goes quiet, just so The Bastards don't have to even pay them an extra hour or so!!!

Geezus, Mary and Joseph would be turning in their graves at what is going on out there! and all the while the cost of living is going up and up and UP. TWENTY% VAT next year...?????????????   

We are heading for a Depression that merely tickles the one from the 1930s! I saw it coming so long ago...

And you know what, SW, the rich folks just sit back, smiling, getting richer and richer, not giving a shit about the folks who've made them that fortune...

May they meet Marie Antoinette Times very soon...be brought to their knees and learn humility, compassion and empathy...

If not, this world is only going to a very bad place.................

But hey, don't worry, BE HAPPY, as the song goes, eh?...