If Labour forms the next government, as polls suggest, it must provide the private sector with the kind of incentives that will lift investment in…
View More To get to net zero, we may have to sell off the UK’s futureTag: Privatisation
I helped privatise UK water firms. But it’s government inaction that wrecked them
As the chair of the Chichester Harbour Trust, one of the most beautiful and important natural harbours in the UK, I witness on a daily…
View More I helped privatise UK water firms. But it’s government inaction that wrecked themNow, water bosses, you must show how capitalism can work for the common good | Will Hutton
There is universal agreement that privatisation was never meant to result in news like this. Last week, the government announced it was on standby to…
View More Now, water bosses, you must show how capitalism can work for the common good | Will HuttonSevern Trent chief proposes ‘social purpose’ water firms amid utilities crisis
The chief executive of the water company Severn Trent is seeking backing from industry and the Labour party for British utility firms to be reformed…
View More Severn Trent chief proposes ‘social purpose’ water firms amid utilities crisisRevealed: warning to ministers over privatised water kept secret since 2002
Ministers were warned about the dangers of private equity taking over the water industry in a briefing that has been kept secret for 20 years,…
View More Revealed: warning to ministers over privatised water kept secret since 2002Thames Water’s real-time map confirms raw sewage discharges
The market town of Fairford, nestling in the Cotswold hills, is perhaps best known for its church, which has the only complete set of mediaeval…
View More Thames Water’s real-time map confirms raw sewage dischargesOfwat attacks water firms’ lack of investment to cut sewage discharges
Ofwat has criticised water companies for failing to invest enough in treatment plants to stop the overuse of raw sewage discharges. The water regulator for…
View More Ofwat attacks water firms’ lack of investment to cut sewage dischargesEngland’s water can be renationalised without compensation, activists say
Parliament could renationalise the water industry in England without being obliged to compensate shareholders, according to previous UK court judgments cited by campaigners. Activists are…
View More England’s water can be renationalised without compensation, activists sayRevealed: more than 70% of English water industry is in foreign ownership
Foreign investment firms, private equity, pension funds and businesses lodged in tax havens own more than 70% of the water industry in England, according to…
View More Revealed: more than 70% of English water industry is in foreign ownershipEngland’s water: the world’s piggy bank
England is one of the few countries in the world where water is fully owned by private companies. These companies answer to investors based thousands…
View More England’s water: the world’s piggy bank