“WORDS OF THE WEEK”
“Why on earth would anybody want to pay for a service for a second time that you’ve already paid for and didn’t get the service you needed the first time? Any money needs to be spent right now, needs to come out of the shareholders’ pockets and not another penny of the public’s money should go into these failures of companies” – Clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey responds to calls from the water industry to be allowed to triple investment to fix the sharp rise in sewage spills in England.
“I had a plan on Saturday night for Tuesday that got blown apart in 12 hours, so to have a plan for something in twoand-a-half months’ time at the moment is faintly ridiculous” – England manager Gareth Southgate on his selection headache ahead of having to name a squad for the European Championships in the summer.
“Had this been entirely a business meeting, it would have been clearly in accordance with all restrictions. Had it been entirely social, it would have been clearly in disregard of the restrictions at the time. I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the event included both business and social elements” – Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg clears four Conservative MPs accused of attending a birthday drinks event in breach of lockdown rules.
“We all need to learn from each other’s faith and those holy books are the main platform for that so I’m really glad I could do that on behalf of the interfaith forum and the Shrewsbury Muslim Centre” – John Mustafa, of the Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum after he gave the Queen an English copy of the Koran.
“They should never have even thought it in the first place, to put down lies and horrible words. Sorry doesn’t cut it” – Linda Nolan says people who said false or mocking things about the Princess of Wales before her cancer treatment was revealed should apologise.
“We should not create another commercial walled garden or a narrow BBC that provides a niche service for the most hardcore users. The very wonder of the BBC is that quality news sits next to genres such as drama and sport, thus ensuring widespread engagement.” – BBC director-general Tim Davie says he is open to a “more progressive” licence fee.