At last!

“They shoot journalists on sight in the Capitol”. Just seen Alex Garland’s Civil War. Gut wrenching, frightening and exhilarating. A disaster movie you can (very sadly) believe might actually happen one day.

A small sum of money to tackle a massive problem. Govt announces £11million in fines paid by water companies for polluting rivers will be used to restore them. Thames21 welcomes the cash, but says it will be spread thinly due to scale of damage. My report from Greenwich Good Morning Britain

There’s an incredible energy & excitement that comes with witnessing an #Eclipse . This was Plymouth in 2015. Wishing good luck and great fun to our US based colleagues, immersing themselves in temporary darkness today.

Long queues for limited train services on strike hit Southeastern this morning. This is Orpington, but it’s a similar picture at stations all around London today as ASLEF drivers walk out. Many stations and routes are not operating at all for commuters in to the capital Good Morning Britain

Slightly surreal to find our Good Morning Britain report being introduced by Clive Myrie on Have I Got News For You Well done Prof Alex Ford. Cutting through the crap to highlight the damage being done to our environment and ecosystems.

Foreign agent gathering ‘kompromat’? Or a fun & selfie loving lobbyist, who’d previously worked for two Tory MPs, now dangerously out of his depth? Am sure we’re not the only ones digging deeper…

Cleared to travel again. My first foreign foray in five weeks. To Brussels. Where NATO member countries, all 32 of them, aim to build a €100billion war chest to help defend Ukraine for the next five years.

Shocked to hear my old friend Paul Chantler has died. Like so many in our industry I owe my first break in broadcasting to Paul. Not to mention nearly four decades of unwavering support & kindness. His legend lives on through his “Essential Media Law” books. Taken far too soon. X

Great to be filming with Good Morning Britain this morning speaking with Richard Gaisford about pressures on community pharmacies and the government’s proposals on expanding the role of technicians. #Pharmacy24 #Fight4Pharmacies

In my Good Morning Britain chat with Prof Alex Ford we noticed brown gunk floating around our feet. Southern Water was discharging sewage into the sea at that time, as shown by their own data. It lasted more than 21 hours. There was an another discharge period of more than four hours later today.

Plenty of not so glorious ‘records’ in the news today:

-Sewage discharges double, new England record
-Public satisfaction with NHS falls to record low.
-Record number of migrants cross English Channel this year.

Not quite the ‘good news’ the PM was waiting for.

Thinking about Easter holiday plans, this is a beautiful part of the world, we now tend to avoid harbours, beaches & rivers due to the fact that paddling in sewage with toxic fish ain’t fun. Making life a bit less joyful.

Great reporting Richard Gaisford & Prof Alex Ford

Doubly depressing. I’m at Langstone Harbour in Hampshire, one of the most impacted sewage hotspots in the country. To make matters worse #ThoughtlessTossers are also doing their bit to ruin the natural environment Clean Up Britain Keep Britain Tidy Havant Borough Council Hampshire Live

Already 400 pollution alerts in first three months of this year in Langstone Harbour. More than all of last year. Which was already much worse than year before that. Southern Water tells us sorting the problem is a top priority. And reminds us weather’s been especially wet.