Ofwat has an early Christmas present for water firms—A bailout, paid for by us
19 December 2024, 18:19
Less than a week out from Christmas and Ofwat has gifted water firms an early present — a bailout, paid for by us.
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After decades spent handing billions to shareholders, leaving infrastructure to crumble and paying mega-bonuses to bosses, water firms are in deep trouble. Thames Water says it only has enough cash to last to 24th March next year and needs £3 billion from investors to survive.
We should be reaching the endgame for private water at this point. Instead, the regulator is waving through a huge price hike — an average of 36% more on your water bills by 2030 — to keep these companies in business.
Ofwat will, rightly, get criticised for its ongoing inability to protect consumers and end the sewage scandal. There’s simply no way to see how today’s decision doesn’t prioritise the interests of private shareholders (who’ll now see the value of their investments go up). But the real questions have to be directed at Keir Starmer.
There are very few things that unite us as a country — the belief that water should be owned by all of us and run in our interests is one of them. An overwhelming 82% of us support public ownership of water, even before the price hike announcement.
It’s inexcusable that the Prime Minister isn’t taking steps to put an end to the catastrophic failure of private water today. Instead he’s waving through bill hikes to bail out the shareholders at our expense.
The will of the people is clear. The longer Starmer continues to ignore us, the more likely people will take matters into their own hands.
We’ve already tried protesting, marching and writing to our representatives, yet nothing has changed. So, we can learn lessons from similar stories, such as the anti-Poll Tax campaign which brought an end to another draconian money grab. Refusing to pay the water companies may be the final resort to have our voices heard.
With firms like Thames Water on the verge of collapse, even just the threat that thousands of us will stop paying could be enough to put them out of business. Can Keir Starmer stand by and take this risk?
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Joe Davies is a founding member of the Take Back Water campaign.
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