Problematic potholes and toothless inactive regulators
Idon’t think I’ll be alone thinking things don’t “feel” great right now. I’ve just driven home from the V2 Radio studios back to my house in Tangmere, dodging massive potholes.
Last week – I inadvertently hit one, which jolted my car so badly that the radio completely reset itself, thinking I’d inserted a CD; luckily, there wasn’t any lasting damage.
I’ve seen multiple posts on local Facebook groups with people who weren’t so lucky and completely ruined tyres and wheels, with anecdotes of the council refusing to pay for the damage caused. WSCC need to step up and get these fixed as the roads around here are an absolute disgrace.
My next gripe is with all the various regulators that are supposed to regulate the various public services, the non-governmental organisations which you’ll usually find manned by a chief executive that has done some favour for the
Government of the day and who has no real experience in the relevant field in question.
Let’s start with OFGEM, the energy regulator, who, despite finally lowering the energy price cap, is allowing the standing charges to increase, giving struggling households no way to reduce their costs. Meanwhile, many energy companies post record profits and pay significant dividends to shareholders.
There’s OFWAT, the water regulator, which has allowed many water companies to under-invest in infrastructure, discharge raw sewage, and make huge losses but still pay huge dividends and executive salaries.
And finally, there’s OFCOM, the communications regulator, which has allowed significant deregulation of local radio services, both in the commercial sector and the BBC. They have allowed two privately owned groups to own a significant amount of the radio spectrum: Global Media and Bauer Media Group.
The latter was responsible for the closure of Spirit FM back in 2020 and now history is repeating itself with the recently announced closure of Wave 105, based in Fareham and covering parts of West Sussex, South Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Wiltshire and Dorset – it too is becoming “Greatest Hits Radio” and losing most of its local identity at the end of the month.
I personally cannot wait for the next election; with the state of things now, we’ve got a mountain to climb. Please, can we have a country that works for the people that live in it, instead of multinational corporations that pay minimal taxes?