Thames Water sign at a water works in Islington, north London, July 23, 2026
CAMPAIGNERS demanded the government take back control of debt-ridden Thames Water after its “indefensible” decision to give a £1 million golden handshake to its finance chief amid likely drought conditions in large parts of the country.
Britain’s largest water company gave Steve Buck the huge sign-on fee in July as it continues to struggle with a debt pile of around £20 billion, as well as public outcry over pollution and mismanagement of the utility.
The payment, which a senior company figure admitted would be seen as “unjust” by customers, was made despite renewed strain on southern England’s water systems, as Amber heat alerts were issued for most of the country yesterday.
More areas across England are likely to plunge into drought this week, as the Met Office predicted temperatures are to soar into the mid-30°Cs yet again this week.
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)Image of a burst water main.
An aerial view of water treatment ponds and solar panel farm at Thames Water’s Chertsey Water Works in Surrey
ANYTHING less than a full restructure of the water industry would be a “total insult” to the public, ministers were warned today as the majority of English waters failed to meet ecological standards.
Clean water campaigners and the GMB demanded PM Andy Burnham take decisive action after new Environment Agency (EA) figures revealed only 14 per cent of England’s waterways are in good health.
While 15 per cent of rivers are classed as good, only around 7 per cent of lakes reached that threshold, the EA said.
Researchers cited phosphate as the largest individual polluter, which comes from sewage and farming runoff. About half of rivers still exceed safe levels.
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) senior policy manager Henry Swithinbank recognised that Mr Burnham previously said “some promising things” on the water sector.
“But now is not the time for lip service,” Mr Swithinbank told the Morning Star. “Burnham must turn those words into urgent action. Anything less will be a total insult to our waters and the public.”
He added: “Despite promises from water companies, and government policies and targets, our waters continue to be degraded into an even more dire state.
“Are we surprised? After years of limp policies, slap on the wrist fines and tinkering, sadly, we are not.
“But we are furious. Our beaches, rivers and lakes are poisoned by sewage. This cannot be allowed to continue.
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) protest sewage discharges.Image of a burst water main.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
Colorado residents fill out cards and share their stories for content to send to congressional representatives regarding healthcare cuts and the Affordable Care Act during an event called “Don’t Let the Ghouls Gut Our Healthcare!” on November 1, 2025 in Northglenn. (Photo by Tom Cooper/Getty Images for Economic Security Project)
“As working families continue to get squeezed left and right by GOP-driven healthcare cost hikes and bureaucratic red tape, millions more Americans will lose the care they rely on to stay alive and healthy.”
On the heels of data revealing that millions of people have lost health insurance coverage during US President Donald Trump’s second term amid a series of GOP attacks on access to care, polling published Monday shows that a majority of Americans support eliminating private insurers.
The 1,606 adult US citizens surveyed by The Economist/YouGov June 26-29 were asked: “Do you support or oppose a national health plan in which all Americans get their health insurance from the federal government and private health insurance companies are eliminated?”
Fifty-two percent expressed support, and the proposal was even more popular than that among respondents under age 45 as well as registered Democrats and Independents. Just 30% of those polled were opposed, while the rest said that they were “not sure.”
The polling follows the administration’s quiet release of data showing that 4.2 million lost Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage as of February. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have come under fire for letting ACA subsidies expire at the end of last year—as well as for enacting the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is expected to leave more working-class Americans uninsured over the next decade. Already, Protect Our Care estimates that 3.8 million people have lost coverage under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, bringing the total for Trump’s term to around 8 million.
“A mind-boggling number of Americans have found themselves joining the ranks of the uninsured,” Protect Our Care president Brad Woodhouse said in a Tuesday statement. “And this is just the beginning. As working families continue to get squeezed left and right by GOP-driven healthcare cost hikes and bureaucratic red tape, millions more Americans will lose the care they rely on to stay alive and healthy.”
“These are diabetic patients rationing insulin and parents skipping cancer screenings,” he continued. “These are small business owners and farmers shutting down their life’s work because they can no longer afford to buy insurance on their own. These are moms, veterans, and seniors. These are the millions who will hand Trump and Republicans in Congress a withering rebuke at the ballot box in November for making healthcare unaffordable so they could make billionaires and big corporations richer.”
As premiums soar and Americans begin to endure the consequences of the national Republican healthcare agenda, a sweeping coalition of groups that support a universal single-payer system declared earlier this month that “now is the time for Medicare for All.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) have repeatedly introduced the Medicare for All Act in Congress, and support for it has grown among elected Democrats and the US public—as suggested by the new polling.
In a statement about the healthcare findings, the pollsters explained:
While eliminating insurance companies may sound like a radical change to healthcare, the share of Americans who want to replace private insurance with a government health plan (52%) is larger than the share who want to expand the existing Obamacare (the health coverage system established by the Affordable Care Act) (38%). The share who favor repealing Obamacare (28%) is about as large as the share who oppose replacing private insurance with a government plan (30%).
Americans who support a national healthcare plan do not universally see expanding Obamacare as a step in the right direction. Only a little more than half (56%) of the Americans who support creating a national health plan also support expanding Obamacare. On the other hand, most Americans who support expanding Obamacare would also support a national health plan that replaces private insurance (77%).
Although “only 8% of Americans would describe themselves as socialists,” which is “smaller than the shares who describe themselves with several other ideological adjectives offered in a poll question, including progressive (17%), liberal (23%), and conservative (34%),” the pollsters also noted, “many policy proposals championed by democratic socialists draw significant support from Americans.”
For example, majorities of respondents endorsed the government covering the cost of college tuition for all students (55%) and building public housing (57%).
When asked, “Do you think Donald Trump has had the right priorities or hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems?” 60% of respondents said the president “hasn’t paid attention to the most important problems.”
The polling comes just over four months away from the November midterm elections, in which Democrats hope to reclaim majorities in both chambers of Congress. Some Democratic candidates, including US Senate hopefuls Graham Platner in Maine and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, are explicitly running on support for Medicare for All.
After multiple progressives running to represent various New York districts in the US House of Representatives won their primaries last week, Sanders called their victories proof that Americans “are sick and tired of status quo politics,” while Jayapal similarly celebrated that “bold, people-powered candidates took on the Democratic establishment and won.”
“They ran on Medicare for All. On a public option for housing. On a foreign policy that centers human dignity over political convenience. And they won,” Jayapal said. “This is what happens when movements build power. People-powered movements win.”
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.
Only the Green Party has responded to a Makerfield public ownership pledge launched today, explaining which local public services they would take back if elected. Andy Burnham has not clarified his position, despite his critique of privatisation in recent weeks.
Campaign group We Own It asked the six main Makerfield candidates for their positions on public ownership of water, energy and buses, as well as a local BlackRock deal with Greater Manchester Pension Fund to buy up GP surgeries.
It’s really shocking that Andy Burnham has spent the last few weeks attacking 40 years of Thatcherite privatisation but won’t take a clear position on the local water and energy companies ripping off the people of Makerfield.
Voters deserve to know if he will stand up for them or for a handful of shareholders around the world. Keir Starmer promised public ownership and then betrayed voters. Burnham can’t fool us twice.
Water and energy are profitable assets with a revenue stream so it’s a great deal for the public purse to bring them into public hands. United Utilities and the North West energy grid are monopolies – there is no market. So we need accountability as citizens, and profits reinvested instead of leaking out.
107 MPs demand government rejects £10bn rescue deal put forward by Thames Water’s creditors
UNIONS, campaigners and MPs are demanding the government put an end to the uncertainty surrounding Thames Water and permanently nationalise the scandal-ridden utility.
They renewed their calls to nationalise the water firm today after Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds came out against a £10 billion rescue bid, saying it poses an “unfair cost to consumers.”
The minister’s warnings closely followed an open letter to Ofwat signed by 107 MPs demanding the government reject the deal put forward by Thames Water creditors to salvage the company.
Politicians expressed urgent concern over allowing the firm, which is responsible for almost a third of all the industry’s most harmful pollution incidents last year, to set its own rules through the proposed deal.
Ms Reynolds told the House of Commons today of her letter to water regulator Ofwat warning that the plan did not go far enough to protect the environment and water customers.
Thames Water hopes the deal will help stave off temporary nationalisation as it faces collapse due to being nearly £20bn in debt.
Although not an official government decision, the minister’s comments cast doubt on the viability of the plan which she said could mean Thames Water’s 16 million customers “bear an undue cost for investment in the company.”
Ms Reynolds added that the proposal likely means further delays to mandated environmental improvements of wastewater treatment facilities and other projects vital to drinking water safety.
On Tuesday, Ofwat was reportedly still close to accepting the offer from bidding consortium London & Valley Water, which proposed injecting £10bn into debt-ridden Thames Water.
In return, any new fines for sewage leaks would be waived for four years.
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)
Thames Water sign at a water works in Islington, north London, July 23, 2026
