… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Category: nationalise

  • ‘They’re a private company, run for profit!’: fury in Kent at South East Water’s outages

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    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/28/anger-kent-south-east-water-outages

    Water company blames increased demand in extreme heat, but customers want answers about lack of storage reservoirs

    “Spitting, fuming, angry and powerless” is how Pat Prestage describes her emotions after a water outage that has affected thousands of homes in Kent during the heatwave.

    On Wednesday, 8,000 South East Water customers in Whitstable lost water, with 14,000 more in Tankerton, Ashford, and its surrounding areas facing an intermittent supply or low pressure. South East Water’s incident manager, Matthew Dean, said on Thursday that 22,000 people had had water supply problems.

    The company blamed increased demand in the hot weather and asked people to use water only for essential purposes.

    …

    The Prestages are angry at the company’s response, particularly its co-option of what the couple describe as the “blitz spirit” in asking customers with water to ease up on their usage to help those without.

    “They talk to the public as if they’re a public service. They’re a private company, run for profit!” says Pat. “Some of the money we’re paying, they’re pocketing, and it’s not going into the reservoir we’ve needed for 40 years.”

    Martin says “the inference is almost that it’s our fault”.

    …

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/28/anger-kent-south-east-water-outages

  • Surfers to ‘paddle out’ across Britain in protest over failing water sector

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/surfers-paddle-out-across-britain-protest-over-failing-water-sector

     People take part in a protest by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), in Falmouth, who are calling for an end to the sewage discharges plaguing the UK’s rivers and seas, May 18, 2024

    SURFERS are set to paddle out across Britain’s coasts, rivers and lakes tomorrow in nationwide protests demanding an end to private ownership of the water sector.

    Led by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), groups will gather at more than 50 locations for the annual protest.

    Protesters in England will also oppose the Water Reform Bill, announced in the King’s Speech on Wednesday, which they say will entrench privatisation in law rather than reverse it.

    Ministers have ruled out returning water companies to public ownership. An annual survey by the Consumer Council for Water found that trust in water companies has plunged to a new low, with most concerns centring on sewage mismanagement and soaring bills.

    SAS chief executive Giles Bristow said: “The Water Reform Bill is nothing more than a whitewash, locking in a failed system that has seen pollution, shareholder profits and consumer bills soar over three decades.

    “Public support for privatised water has all but vanished and while thousands take to the beaches in protest, the government is burying its head in the sand.”

    Polling commissioned by SAS found that only 7 per cent of adults in England believe water companies should remain privately owned.

    Some 77 per cent supported a change in operating model, with 35 per cent backing full public ownership.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/surfers-paddle-out-across-britain-protest-over-failing-water-sector

  • Sewage flowed into rivers, lakes and seas for 1.87 million hours in 2025

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-flowed-rivers-lakes-and-seas-187-million-hours-2025

     A tanker pumping out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire which flooded after heavy rainfall, January 10, 2024

    SEWAGE flowed into England’s waterways for more than 1.87 million cumulated hours in 2025 despite drier conditions than prior years, official figures released today showed.

    Nearly 300,000 incidents of untreated sewage were spilled through overflow systems into rivers, lakes and seas last year.

    The practice of dumping sewage is meant to take place only in what water companies call “exceptional circumstances,” meant to prevent sewers from being overwhelmed in case of storms or heavy rain and backing up into homes.

    Findings from the second year of full monitoring of the network by the Environmental Agency revealed that there were 291,492 spills of this type across England in 2025.

    Despite these figures marking a reduction from the previous year, down more than a third (35 per cent) from 450,398 in 2024, campaigners have continued to slam the mismanagement of Britain’s water systems, calling for private water firms to be taken back into public control.

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-flowed-rivers-lakes-and-seas-187-million-hours-2025

    April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
    April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)

  • MPs hear evidence during debate on NHS privatisation in Parliament

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mps-hear-evidence-during-debate-nhs-privatisation-parliament

     A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward

    MPs have demanded that Health Secretary Wes Streeting “listen to experts” who warned against implementing his “disastrous” plans to further privatise the NHS.

    At a debate chaired by Labour MP Richard Burgon in Westminster on Tuesday, MPs heard new expert evidence exposing that levels of privatisation within the health service were far higher than previously thought.

    Mr Burgon said: “We need to push back against this Mandelsonian wing of the Labour party. I want Wes to hear what is being shared in this room.

    “Privatisation is disastrous for patients and for workers. It’s not the way forward.”

    The meeting with the NHS working group coincided with the publication of a report co-authored by campaigners Keep Our NHS Public and the 99% Organisation.

    It found the level of private involvement in the NHS to be about 30 per cent, rather than the more widely known figure of 7 per cent.

    …

    MPs including Rachel Maskell, Andy McDonald, Neil Duncan-Jordan heard testimonies on the “disastrous” state of privatisation in the NHS from health experts, NHS staff and economists.

    Report co-author Mark E Thomas said: “The figure which is most referred to in this debate was 7 per cent of privatisation. But really we need to be thinking 30 per cent.”

    He added: “In some specialties, more than 50 per cent of treatments are already paid for privately, such as ophthalmology for example. It’s the same for dentistry.”

    …

    Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mps-hear-evidence-during-debate-nhs-privatisation-parliament

    Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
    Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
    Nigel Farage attacks the NHS
    Nigel Farage attacks the NHS
    Image of George Osborne asking where is the money to be made in the NHS
    Image of George Osborne asking where is the money to be made in the NHS

  • Morning Star Editorial: South East Water should be taken into public ownership

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/south-east-water-should-be-taken-public-ownership

     A worker hands over bottled water at a water station in East Grinstead, after bad weather was blamed for more water outages in Kent and parts of Sussex, January 12, 2026

    HOW much longer are people in south-east England expected to put up with the depredations of South East Water?

    Seventeen communities across Sussex and Kent, including 30,000 households, were without a water supply today, in some cases for the fourth day running. And this comes after prolonged outages last year, notably in and around Tunbridge Wells.

    There is no more basic human requirement than a water supply. Without it, society starts to crumble and, indeed, schools, libraries and health clinics have had to shut in affected areas while elderly residents have been asked to travel up to seventy miles to secure a bottled water supply.

    The only thing not in short supply from South East Water is excuses, mainly around the weather — that and fat-cat payments of course.

    As recently as 2023 the company was spending millions more on dividends and interest payments on debt — it was debt-free when privatised by Thatcher — than it was in investing in its crumbling infrastructure.

    And bungling chief executive David Hinton was, almost unbelievably, paid a £115,000 bonus last year on top of his £400,000 salary.

    This was despite not only South East Water’s wretched service delivery but also the fact that it had to turn to its owners —  mainly overseas investment funds — for an extra £200 million in cash to stave off insolvency. The company is barely more stable than the effectively bankrupt Thames Water. Local MPs have unsurprisingly called on Hinton to resign.

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/south-east-water-should-be-taken-public-ownership