BOSSES at Starbucks should hang their heads in shame.

Every day its coffee shops around Britain, and across the world, waste more than 23million litres of water.

And all because staff are ORDERED to keep a tap running all day . . . to clean spoons.

The scandal comes at a time when we are all being urged to save water.

And it is being carried out by a High Street giant that boasts about how “ethical” it is.

Its website brags about how it wants to “reduce waste”. It even claims to do all it can to “preserve the earth’s natural resources.”

But behind the green-wash, the reality is very different.

Starbucks is not preserving the earth’s resources. It is pouring them down thousands of plugholes.

The policy even operates in China, Romania and Australia — countries which face regular droughts.

Yet Starbucks is unrepentant.

Challenged about the indefensible practice, the firm insisted it was the best way to keep spoons clean.

This is offensive nonsense. Starbucks must clean up its act — and stop wasting water now.

Joint account

ON Saturday, the leaders of Europe’s “big four” stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the face of economic turmoil.

They talked of co-ordinated responses and unified action.

But last night, German Chancellor Angela Merkel followed Ireland and announced her Government would guarantee all private savings.

Her dramatic move torpedoed Gordon Brown’s hopes of getting a joint European response to the crisis.

And it will pile pressure on the PM to follow suit.

At home, there are more positive signs. David Cameron performed a big U-turn and said he would support moves to use taxpayers’ cash to prop up our banks.

Europe’s leaders may have decided to look after themselves.

But cross-party agreement in Britain could help us weather the economic storm.

A tough job

BRITAIN can’t beat the Taliban.

Not the words of an anti-war activist but of our top commander in Afghanistan.

Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith goes on to say we can reduce them to a handful of insurgents, launching sporadic attacks.

No-one thought we could wipe the Taliban off the face of the earth.

But if Our Boys can rip the heart out of their network — and give the Afghan people a real chance of peace — they will have done a great job.