Advertisement
Become a member of the Big Issue community
JOIN
Letters

Letters: Water bosses should be made to do Cersei's 'walk of shame' from Game of Thrones

Our recent article on Matt Staniek's campaign to save Windermere from sewage pollution prompted a big response from readers

Cersei's Walk of Shame. Image: 2015 Home Box Office

Big Issue readers react to our articles on sewage pollution, trade unions, the perception of people who are unemployed and our vendors.

Water companies and Windermere

Should the water companies and board members be forced to do Cersei’s “walk of shame” from Game of Thrones for ruining the waterways and rivers, and taking the money out of their coffers in bonuses? 

@MintyRod, X 

Great effort – keep bringing awareness and holding polluting water companies to account. The government need to get some teeth and show us why we voted for them! 

@Swimwildwye, Instagram 

Really great to hear Matt has made it a real mission. Windermere really used to be beautiful with so much native wildlife. I would ask though why no one is linking the timeframe to the end of EU water quality regulations in the UK. 

Advertisement
Advertisement

@DarkSprouty, X 

It’s totally outrageous that this is being done and the company who is causing it is paying out dividends and bonuses. Ofwat is a chocolate teapot of a water regulator. No doubt those who run it are most likely compromised too. 

Rashpukin, Reddit 

Friends reunited

I am writing to you to share my story about your vendor in Sevenoaks, Ronnie. I live in Singapore and I was lucky enough to have some free time this year to come to the UK to visit my elderly parents, which was a great joy for us all. 

One Saturday I brought my mum to Sevenoaks. As we walked along the High Street, your vendor Ronnie enthusiastically greeted my mum, who for years supported him every week, buying the magazine when she was still mobile enough to come shopping on her own. Ronnie and my mum chatted animatedly and I was astonished that Ronnie had even remembered where I lived after previous conversations with my mum. I was so touched by this that afterwards I was almost in tears.

Ronnie shared a little about his life and updated my mum with his family news. I cannot tell you how much this meeting meant to me. Thank you, Ronnie. 

Victoria Epps, Singapore 

Prison brakes

The government cannot imprison its way out of the climate crisis! Unfair legal action will just serve to strengthen feelings of support for peaceful activists. The activists I know are decent, well-informed, educated, brave people of all ages. They are all trying desperately hard to protect future generations from a disaster which is already happening. I’m 75 and know how the climate has changed over the years. The activists are not the trouble causers. They are the protectors. 

Audrey Arksey

Union dues

Regarding your article: No, unions are not ‘holding the country to ransom’. That’s exactly what the unions have done, no matter how they dress it up. The rail strikes, the junior doctor strikes; they did not hit the rich, they did not hit the politicians, it hit normal people. And in health, it hit the most vulnerable in society. 

Stuart Goodman, Facebook 

Readers respond to our article about people out of work

I feel the shame despite being off ill with four surgeries and a fractured shoulder in the last 20 months. Our children even pick up on that mindset. Very challenging to manage despite giving the best for recovery and re-entry to full-time work. 

@Clt21century, Instagram 

The fabric of society which was trampled to death by the Tories is having its guts kicked out again by Labour. The country needs to go back to basics and decide if we are going to use the resources of the UK to look after the billionaires and lobbyists or the rightful recipients – ie the people! 

@ct9058023, Instagram 

And the lack of jobs? And the zero-hour, 20-hours-a-month contract jobs? And the small businesses trying their hardest to compete with corporations? Parents my age wonder why they’re struggling so hard to raise their children and wonder what the hell any of them are going to do if and when they reach pension age, if they make it that far. 

@boredbecky, Instagram 

I think it’s really difficult to get a job now. I was lucky to get employment. Everything now wants you to apply online but I don’t use computers. My employer was amazing and let me apply with a good old-fashioned application form and a pen. 

Sally-anne Hardwick, Facebook 

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about water pollution, employment, or any of the other issues raised? Get in touch and tell us moreBig Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Advertisement

Become a Big Issue member

3.8 million people in the UK live in extreme poverty. Turn your anger into action - become a Big Issue member and give us the power to take poverty to zero.

Recommended for you

View all
Letters: Keir Starmer, please keep our loved ones warm this winter
Letters

Letters: Keir Starmer, please keep our loved ones warm this winter

Letters: I'm a pensioner and I agree with cutting winter fuel payments – I don't need it
Letters

Letters: I'm a pensioner and I agree with cutting winter fuel payments – I don't need it

Letters: The winter fuel payment cut confirms my worst suspicions about Labour
Letters

Letters: The winter fuel payment cut confirms my worst suspicions about Labour

Letters: There's no way I'll claim pension credit – I refuse to be insulted by benefit assessors
Letters

Letters: There's no way I'll claim pension credit – I refuse to be insulted by benefit assessors

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know