Drought disaster for French farmers shows water must be a public resource

  • Post author:
  • Post last modified:17 August 2026

There is a red alert in France concerning water resources. Although France is currently experiencing its fourth heatwave since May, the drought is worsening. And with it, the insurance companiesโ€™ bill is rising, as they see their expenditure increase every year due, reportedly, to increasingly intense and recurrent exceptional weather events. A national crisis On 29 July, no fewer than 62 of the countryโ€™s 96 metropolitan departments were in a crisis situation, and another 22 were on alert. The Minister for Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut stated that the cost of the current crisis would be โ€œhigherโ€ than the โ‚ฌ5.6 billion recorded…

Continue ReadingDrought disaster for French farmers shows water must be a public resource

Defence secretary confident Burnham will resource the military

  • Post author:
  • Post last modified:6 July 2026

Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, has told the Guardian he doesn’t have “a shred of doubt” that incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, will ensure the military gets the resources it needs. Jarvis, whose donors include Labour Together millionaires and recruitment firms PSD and Odgers Berndtson (who are linked to private healthcare), says he is confident the PM-in-waiting “values national security”. He said: What I absolutely will want to see is that in the next spending review we commit the resources to evidence the trajectory to 3.5% [of GDP]. Iโ€™ve known Andy for a very long time, and I have not…

Continue ReadingDefence secretary confident Burnham will resource the military