With backing of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, Labour’s Leonie Cooper calls for water utilities ‘that put the needs of the public and the environment ahead of private profit’
Time for change: even senior figures in the Labour Party believe Thames Water must be taken back into public ownership
Senior figures in the Labour Party in London have joined calls for the urgent re-nationalisation of Thames Water, in the latest push-back against environment secretary Steve Reed’s soggy mess of a water reform review.
Reed, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North, not that Reed’s that bothered), was accused of lying over the potential costs of bringing serial polluters Thames Water and other privatised regional utility monopolies back into public ownership, while high-profile campaigner Feargal Sharkey called for his resignation on live TV – more than once.
Cunliffe’s review did not recommend re-nationalising the privatised regional monopolies, though. Reed deliberately excluded considering such an option when setting the terms for the review, using data commissioned from water companies to argue that re-nationalisation would be too costly.
In a significant break in the rigid London Labour circle, senior City Hall figure Leonie Cooper added her voice to that of the GMB union in calling for more drastic and urgent action over Thames Water.
Excrement: Leonie Cooper AM pulled no punches in her criticism of the Cunliffe Review
Cooper, the London Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth and Labour’s lead at City Hall on the environment, will have made her comments with the approval of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.
“These proposals don’t go far enough,” Cooper said of the Cunliffe Review that was released yesterday, with the scrapping of ineffectual watchdog Ofwat the most radical of its 88 proposals.
Cooper welcomed the review’s “bold recommendations” to strengthen regulation, tougher rules on ownership, stronger consumer protections and greater accountability, but described them as “long overdue”.
Cooper’s critique of the published report’s recommendations was stark: “They do not address the failures of the privatised water model, seen most clearly in the ongoing crisis at Thames Water.
“With crumbling infrastructure, and rivers still being polluted, Londoners are expected to foot the bill of a company £19billion in debt.”
And she said: “With record amounts of excrement dumped into the Thames last year, the current system is not working.”
Cooper has followed up her statement by writing to Reed directly “to call for Thames Water to be brought into public ownership”.
She said: “Londoners deserve a water system that works for them. One that is transparent, accountable and run in the public interest,” and she called for “a system that puts the needs of the public and the environment ahead of private profit”.
Cooper’s comments echo that said by Gary Carter, national officer for the GMB union, which has thousands of members working in the water industry. “While Thames lurches from crisis to crisis – the solution is clear; it must be taken back into public ownership, with workers’ terms, conditions and pensions protected,” Carter said last week, after Thames Water published its latest, disastrous annual report.
Environmental group Thames21 also added its voice to the post-Cunliffe clamour, identifying another glaring flaw in the review. “Defra must take action and produce a clear timetable on the delivery of these recommendations,” Chris Coode, the charity’s chief executive, said today.
Coode welcomed some of the Cunliffe proposals, such as a new regional water system planning authority for the Thames and for a stronger monitoring system, as well as sustained, high investment to meet the challenges of climate change, population growth and pressures on land use.
“Thames21 has long called for greater investment in sewage treatment and infrastructure to stop pollution at its source,” Coode said.
Calling on Reed and his government to “act swiftly on these recommendations to bring about the change we so desperately need to see”, Coode also said: “The report leaves some questions unanswered. It is unclear what scrapping Ofwat will mean for the industry.
“What is clear is that we need an effective regulator that seeks a good balance between delivering for customers and protecting the environment – not old wine in new bottles.”
Read more: Reed slammed for ‘laughable’ claims on private water industry
Read more: Thames Water is ‘drowning in debt’ as pollution and bills soar
Read more: Reed took £1,786 football tickets from water company owners
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
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Reed needs to go! He is clearly out of his depth and also is ignoring public and expert opinion
If we worktogether , this is achievable 🙂