Utility Week

Community Last week we revealed that the prez had tweeted a photo of the new military arm's uniform, which was standard marine camouflage, much to the amuse- ment of some who questioned the use of jungle camo in space. Those same critics will not be much reassured by Trump's latest tweet, of the Space Force's new badge. It didn't escape the attention of the enthralled denizens of social media that the badge bears a striking resemblance to that of Starfleet Command in Star Trek. In saner times, the mockery resulting from nicking a logo from a TV series and using it for an actual arm of the military would be enough to drive a president from office; but these days, you couldn't even say for certain that it was a mistake. Don't drink the water Go big or go home, so the saying goes. That's certainly a sentiment that's been taken on board by Dani Dyer – daughter of the Eastenders actor Danny Dyer and winner of TV reality show Love Island in 2018 – at least when it comes to Disconnector Publishing director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Content director: Jane Gray, janegray@fav-house.com, t: 01342 333004; Editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Digital editor: James Wallin, 01342 332015, jameswallin@fav-house.com; Intelligence editor: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@fav-house.com Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@ fav-house.com; Reporter: Adam John, t: 01342 332069, e: adamjohn@fav-house.com; Water correspondent: Ruth Williams, e: ruthwilliams@fav-house.com, t: 01342 332069 Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, e: sarahwood@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332117 Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e: sophieabbott@fav-house.com; General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2018 Membership subscriptions: UK £950+VAT per year. Contact Jo Nikiforov on: 01342 332077 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the regulator of the UK's magazine and newspaper industry. We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint, please contact the Editor. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you want more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk. surname. But at least we've managed to mint a new com- memorative coin (another one, that is), thanks to Savid Javid. The bright 50p piece is emblazoned with the words "Peace, prosperity and friend- ship to all nations". You can't argue with that, right? Wrong. Author Philip Pull- man (His Dark Materials) and others have gone on the warpath about the omission of a comma a™er the word "prosperity" and have urged their fellow Brits to boycott the coin as a protest against illiteracy. It just so happens that use of the "Oxford comma", as it is known, is hotly contested in the UK, but it seems somehow fitting that even as we sail to the promised land of Brexit plenty we should be arguing with each other about something so quin- tessentially English as a point of grammar – particularly one about which there is no answer. To bigly go… Oh, how our American cousins must be laughing at our peculiar preoccupations with such Old World pedantry as the use of commas – or at least they might if they didn't have bigger fish to fry in the form of some strange preoccupations of their own. Yup, it's another outing in this column for president Donald J Trump and his newly minted Space Force. Cry God for Harry, England! At last it's here, Brexit Day. This issue of Utility Week thuds on to doormats on the very day that England throws off the shackles of European subjugation. When Theresa May failed to secure an exit on 29 March last year, then-backbencher Alex- ander Johnson – known to mil- lion of fans simply as "Boris" – lamented its failure, declaring that it was a week "that was meant to be one when church bells were rung, coins struck, stamps issued and bonfires lit to send beacons of freedom from hilltop to hilltop". All of that is in the past, of course. Boris has got the measure of Johnny Foreigner and we're off. The celebrations have so far been more muted than Boris and chums hoped. It's a bit cold and drizzly for light- ing bonfires on hilltops, plus there's the 'elf and safety bri- gade to worry about – at least until we tie them to the stake in the bonfire of the regula- tions that is surely to come. The musical accompani- ment is also lacking, since Big Ben is out of action, much to the consternation of Mark Francois, the Conservative MP who seems to Disconnec- tor to be overcompensating for having a French-sounding UTILITY WEEK | 31ST JANUARY - 6TH FEBRUARY 2020 | 31 ridiculous conspiracy theories. The decorous Dani was on Good Morning Britain last week to promote her new book, What Would Dani Do?, which contains Dani's to-do list on "leading your best life". One of Dani's "don'ts" is drinking tap water because, as she explained to incredulous hosts Kate Gallaway and Ben Shepherd, tap water can be poisoned deliberately by the government and will eventu- ally be used as a tool to cull the population. Dani's advice: drink bottled water. While she has sufficient self-awareness to acknowledge that "it sounds silly", Dani nonetheless explains: "I used to study history and I learnt all about cholera and I just thought, 'If that disease could kill that many people, how has it changed?'." You can't deny the veracity of that – we need look no fur- ther than virus-afflicted China to confirm it – but quite how the government fits into the equation is less certain. As is the fact that poisoning the public water supply might be a good way of slaughtering the entire population. But surely it's a bit overboard for a cull, which implies something at least targeted? May Disconnector be so bold as to suggest, perhaps the chaps at Porton Down ought to consider bottled water instead?

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