It was disgusting to see how few MPs attended the Water Bill debate in parliament on Friday 28th and it confirmed our worst fears. This government clearly doesn’t care about escalating levels of sewage in our rivers and seas let alone about people having to pay 35% more for water, a basic necessity of life .
Less than twenty MPs turned out for the debate and they were totally outnumbered by the fifty or so citizens in the public gallery. Of those Labour MP’s who spoke, all were against Clive Lewis’s bill except for Dawn Butler & Chris Hinchcliff. Others speaking in favour were Green MPs, Ellie Chowns and Carla Denyer and the Independent, Jeremy Corbyn. When the Clive Lewis, who proposed the bill, finished his speech the Visitors Gallery erupted into cheers and clapping but sadly Steve Reed, the minister responsible for water and the environment was nowhere to be seen.
The water crisis is out of control. Thames Water is currently negotiating with the Competition and Markets Authority to be allowed to increase bills by a stunning 59% by 2030 while the government’s own figures show that the volume of sewage pumped into rivers and costal waters reached an all- time high in 2024.
Meanwhile one group of campaigners are suing water regulator, Ofwat, for having allowed water users to pay for decades of neglect by the water industry; another is seeking compensation for the impact of pollution on their health and a third have attempted citizen’s arrests on the chief executive and chief financial officer of Thames Water on suspicion of causing a causing a public nuisance
The government has set up a water commission to look into the crisis but they have ruled out the only option that is likely to help; the option of bringing water back into public ownership. Thames Water now has close to £22bn worth of debt, a massive backlog of maintenance and development works and is being fined regularly for breaching it’s licence conditions but is still permitted to pay out huge dividends to profit hungry investors. Other water companies are almost as bad and it is clear to all that private water does not work.
If you haven’t done so yet, now really is the time to cancel your direct debit to Thames Water, submit an official complaint and withhold payment until Steve Reed and the water industry asset strippers are able to see sense.