Response to petition (given at Westminster Hall Meeting on 14-9-2026)
The Prime Minister has been clear that the Government’s priorities must be the public’s priorities. People want more ownership and control over the things that matter most to them. Public trust in the sector has been damaged by pollution, financial difficulties at some companies and a failure to invest sufficiently in infrastructure. Channel 4’s “Dirty Business” further highlighted the public concern about sewage pollution, shining a light on issues that matter to communities.
Public interest should be at the heart of how our critical services operate. For decades, the essential services that underpin daily life, including water, have suffered from over-privatisation, leading to high costs to the public. The Government are clear that the public have a right to expect those services to be affordable and accountable. We have established a public control taskforce that will rewire the state, examining how public control across sectors, including water, can be utilised to return them to public service and bring down costs for families. That ambition is reflected in the reforms we are already taking forward: strengthening accountability, improving performance, giving customers and communities a stronger voice, and ensuring that the water sector works in the public interest. We know that bold action is needed, and that is why we are fundamentally reforming the water sector.
I conclude by thanking the campaigners, the 208,000 people and everyone involved in working together on this issue. I hope we can all unite and push forward together to build the water system that we need for our communities, for our environment and for our public health.
Read the whole text here
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 206,000 names which means that the subject will be debated in Parliament on 12th Monday 14th 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.
Thanks for posting this Ewan.
Two of us have signed the petition.