ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, in his latest column for Inside Croydon, looks at the case for ending the ‘legalised larceny’ that is water privatisation, as the environment secretary sinks deeper into the mire
The review commissioned by Steve Reed, the environment secretary (and MP for a part of Croydon), into the future of the water industry was published this week.
It is worse than just a damp squib. It is a capitulation to the privatised water companies.

In the mire: politicians’ reputations rarely recover from a mauling by Private Eye
Reed had already blocked the review from considering a return of water utilities to public ownership – even though that is a position backed by 69% of the public, including a clear majority of Conservative voters.
Reed parrots the ludicrous assertion that it would cost £100billion to re-nationalise the water industry, and claims that would be money taken from the NHS and education.
This is nonsense, on both counts.
Reed has not explained his £100billion figure, although he has said that it came from civil servants in his department.
In fact, the £100billion figure has been floating around since 2018, when the Social Market Foundation produced a report that was paid for by Anglian Water, South West Water and United Utilities. It is based on the water companies’ “enterprise value”, estimated at the time at £80billion, plus a premium. The figure takes no account of the water companies’ ballooning debts.
The think-tank Common Wealth commissioned legal expert Ewan McGaughey (a professor of law at King’s College, London) to assess the true cost. His conclusion? “The true and fair value in law to bring water into public ownership is close to zero.” He has published his workings here https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/how-to-clean-up-our-water. Continue reading →