01 Nov 2023
Writing The Mint magazine, Justin Taberham examines the prospects for the UK water sector. Near daily media interest and criticism of water companies’ pollution performance has lately been often stimulated by public reporting or legal action against them. In addition, debt loadings for some companies are at unsustainably high levels and investors have had to […]
08 Mar 2023
Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said Labour will set out at its party conference in September “a position that would clean up the water industry in this country, deliver value for money for consumers and bill payers, and finally work in the national interest”. Shadow defence and education minster Stephen Morgan shared: “Labour’s plan to […]
01 Oct 2019
As party conference season ends, Conservative plans for achieving their net-zero pledge to end carbon emissions by 2050 have been roundly criticised. They include a promise of a plant to deliver zero-carbon energy from nuclear fusion by 2040 – even though most experts believe achieving the dream is still 30 years away, as well as […]
04 Jul 2019
‘Water UK has sent a submission to the Labour Party on their ‘Democratic Public Ownership’ consultation. The submission also examines the Labour Party’s ‘Clear Water’ proposals for nationalising the water and sewerage industry in England. Our view is that, if implemented, the proposals could seriously damage the provision and quality of water and sewerage services […]
27 Sep 2018
‘Clear Water Labour’s Vision for a Modern and Transparent Publicly-Owned Water System Our utilities have been sold off and run for private profit, not public good, meaning we’re paying rip-off prices for worse services. Water bills increased 40% in the 25 years after privatisation. Over the last ten years, the English water companies have paid […]
10 Sep 2018
Water Briefing: ‘Jeremy Corbyn has criticised the private water companies for running a ‘crumbling’ system and reiterated the Labour Party’s intention to bring them back into public ownership. Labour analysis of Ofwat figures has revealed that since privatisation of the water industry, the value of water companies for shareholders across England has almost quadrupled. It […]
15 Feb 2018
A few weeks ago there was an exchange of letters between Michael Gove and the chairman of Ofwat. In his short letter Michael Gove highlighted a number of points he found unacceptable in the privatised water industry. A new report from the Social Market Foundation think-tank assessing the likely costs associated with nationalising the water and sewerage […]
25 Jan 2018
Environment secretary Michael Gove has warned that water companies must start to behave “in a responsible fashion” or face regulation on the use of offshore tax havens. Speaking to the Sunday Times newspaper, Gove said it was not appropriate for the water companies to avoid paying business taxes at the same time as using offshore […]
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