Last week, in the midst of a cost of living crisis, water bills went up again across the country. Thames Water bills are now set to rise by at least 37% by 2030 with an even greater increase on the cards if Thames creditors get their way on regulatory easements. But those of us paying these huge bills can expect wage increases more in the region of 6% and we have come to the conclusion that we simply cannot afford private water.
We also don’t want our water left in the hands of the greedy profiteers who are currently negotiating a back door bailout deal with Ofwat. Thames Water’s creditors are asking the regulator to let the water company off the millions in fines that were levied for breaches of licence obligations and they also want to see the pollution targets they are expected to meet suspended for the next ten years. In return for these dangerous ‘regulatory easements’ creditors are offering to stump up an additional £6.55bn loan and a further £3.35bn in equity to keep the near bankrupt Thames Water afloat and save the government from having to impose a special administration regime on the company.
But we say Thames Water has been failing us for too long already and the only way to end the fiasco of escalating bills with escalating service failures is to reject this outrageous deal, and place Thames Water in Special Administration without delay.
Please help us stop the backdoor bailout by calling upon your MP to