The water industry needs investment, not confiscation Opinion Renationalising Thames Water will deter the investment Britain needs to grow, says Lord Johnson Andy Burnham enters Downing Street with lofty, and in many ways admirable, ambitions to generate prosperity in the regions. But his plans will come to naught if he cannot first find economic growth – and the outlook is bleak. The IMF [...]
Thames Water is Burnham’s first big test: will he do what’s right or what’s popular? Opinion Thames Water will run out of money in a matter of months, but the government rejected a plan to save it. Now, Burnham’s talk of renationalisation is already scaring off investors and reducing the tax revenues available to fun public services, says Natascha Engel Now that Keir Starmer has announced his departure, the question is [...]
Taxpayers will foot the bill for Burnham’s renationalisation whims Opinion Nationalisation will simply have the Treasury assume private spending commitments with little knowledge of how to run these businesses, thereby increasing the burden on taxpayers, says Valentin Boboc For the first time in nine years, Andy Burnham is back in Westminster. With his eyes on the top job and a year rife with debate about [...]
Is South East Water’s £22m fine a step towards total renationalisation? March 10, 2026 The total mess that Thames Water and South East Water find themselves in – which touch on issues of environmental neglect, underinvestment in critical infrastructure, the limits of privatisation and the role of shareholders in utility companies that operate an effective monopoly – could be a harbinger of what’s to come, says Brett Israel Last [...]