>On 18/05/07, Sue Burchett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> >> Any idea what happened to the 'don't knock BW agreement'? > > >I think your posting lacked an emotocon, didn't it Sue? Is it the ;-) face >which communicates deep cynicism? > >Of course, there never was an 'agreement' not to knock BW. What there was, >was a unilateral declaration by certain on this list, encouraged by BW >itself, to get us to fall in line on the basis that we were fighting the >same battle in opposing the DEFRA cuts. As a direct result, over the past >year BW has hit us harder than they've done for years, screwing us for more >money on everything from pump out charges to moorings. > >But a greater success of the strategy is that most of us now believe that >the future of the waterways is best left in the hands of BW rather than the >government We have had so much BW propaganda thrown at us that we believe >that every failing in policy, every attempt to make money out of the >waterways, every move towards making it 'self sufficient' whether by cutting >services or laying off staff, is not the fault of BW at all, but of the >government. > >Frankly, I'd back the government - any government - over BW any day. At >least I can get rid of the government which is more than I can do with the >atrocious Robin Evans whose dreadful policies have set the climate for this >debate, and whose leadership is now effectively being accused of >maladministative dishonesty. > >Personally, I can't say at this stage whether it's true, that BW's >presentations on the whole of the cuts issue has been devised to hide the >fact that they've been getting more from their property portfolio than they >have declared; I can't say whether they have 'wilfully withheld information' >from the government; that they have done this 'with the intent of deceiving >the general public.' All I know is that the government believes this, and >for better or worse, when the relationship between government and BW has >broken down to this extent the only loser is going to be the waterways >itself. > >Steve
Exactly. Many thanks for putting this so much better than I could. The Nabo chairmen have all started out saying 'we will work with BW', every time they have let us down. Roger said when the SOW campaign started. Watch out now BW will hit us really hard. I hate to admit he was right. Sue nb Nackered Navvy
