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 […]
10 Dec 2017
Labour has launched a major initiative to work with people and businesses in our seaside towns on a plan to revive jobs, industry and local economies. Jeremy Corbyn joined Shadow Minister for Coastal Communities Holly Lynch at the first of a series of visits across Britain’s coastal communities. They met civic and business leaders to […]
14 Nov 2017
Nationalisation of the water industry was back on the agenda at the 2017 CBI conference. Jeremy Corbyn denied the suggestion that Labour’s policy was a ‘throwback’ to the 1970s, saying “it’s not good for the image of business when water companies pay out billions in dividend and interest payments through opaque financial arrangements, while households […]
13 Jun 2017
A report in the Financial Times newspaper has suggested that consumers are now paying £2.3 billion per annum than would have been the case if the water companies had remained in public ownership. The article cites research undertaken by the University of Greenwich which it says has calculated the cost of privatisation to each household […]
17 May 2017
Less Macquarie and more like Welsh Water? The Conservative manifesto has just been published. The Labour Party Manifesto has been published and sets out plans to renationalise the water companies. The Labour Party announced plans to re-nationalise the UK water industry if elected to power after the general election on 8 June. Its manifesto, published 16 […]
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