Could pressure from below turn off the corporate taps?
The asset stripping and debt loading of the nation’s water infrastructure has got to be the most flagrant piss take of the last thirty years. Scandals around sewage dumping that have left the country literally swimming in shit have become a national outrage. The potential collapse of the infrastructure of Thames Water, which threatens the drinking water of 16 million, is one of the first things the new government will have to deal with.
The “Take Back Water” campaign are creating pressure from below to force the re-nationalisation of the water companies.
Clearly with one eye on the (partial) success of the energy bill campaign Don’t Pay in 2022, Take Back Water say, “Most of us want water to be publicly owned. No matter where we live, what we look like, or who we vote for, we agree that water should belong to all of us and be run in our interests. Yet we know that no major party with power in Westminster will do it. Under the government’s most recent plans, failing water companies will have their debts paid off and then put up for sale. We want to make that sale as difficult as possible”.
They’re organising a rolling strike of withholding water bill payment for ninety days, a virtually risk-free action of financial disobedience, that they hope will scare off investors. A spokesperson for the campaign told us “We know Thames Water is going to collapse, we aim to accelerate that collapse”. Polling carried out by the group has shown that in Greater London, up to 55% of people asked thought that refusing to pay water bills was a justified form of protest.
Starmer’s government are on the horns of a dilemma here. Thames Water have said they need to put up bills 61% to even cover the basic repair of infrastructure while maintaining a healthy return for their investors. OfWat has just told them they can only have 20%. This means that the company can’t even be fined for breaches of water safety regulations for fear that will cause them to financially collapse. Of course director’s salaries are perfectly safe from any confiscation, with Thames Water’s CEO Chris Weston receiving a £195,000 bonus just this week!
Take Back Water are giving Keir Starmer 100 days before they launch their first wave of bill strike action.
Can people power force the agenda under the new regime? We’ll drink to that.
- For more see takebackwater.uk
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