There is a petition to hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership. The petition closes on 1st October 2026 and already has over 200,000 names which means that the subject will be debated in Parliament on 12th September 2026. You can find the petition here
I asked AI what the Conservative Party policy was and this is the answer:
The Conservative Party firmly opposes re-nationalising the water industry, supporting instead the continued private ownership of water companies coupled with stricter regulation.
Core Stance on Private Ownership: The Conservatives believe that the private sector is best equipped to secure the private capital required for major infrastructure investments.
Rejection of Nationalisation: The party maintains that bringing water back into public ownership would be unnecessarily costly for taxpayers, disruptive, and cause delays in fixing environmental and infrastructure issues.
Proposed Alternatives – Tighter Regulation: Rather than changing ownership, the party focuses on empowering regulators like Ofwat to hold companies strictly to account.
Performance Accountability: Support measures include imposing strict penalties for pollution, tightening oversight on infrastructure delivery, and restricting executive bonuses when water companies fail to meet required standards.
My view is that – just like steel – the water industry is a special case!
Please consider signing the petition – and if you feel strongly – contact your MP.