Skip to content

… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Home
About

Category: privatise

Greens call for water companies to be taken into public hands as Environment secretary visits polluted Windemere
Spread the love
Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.
Green Party Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay MP has poured cold water on today’s visit by Environment Secretary Steve Reed to Lake Windemere and the announcement that United Utilities will invest £200m into upgrading 10 wastewater treatment works at Windermere. He said:
“The government is today trumpeting its “Things Can Only Get Cleaner” tour. But the reality is that can only happen if we take back control of our water.
“United Utilities offers a prime example of the failed privatisation experiment with our water.
“More than 140 million litres of waste were pumped into Windermere by the corporation between 2021 and 2023 at times when it was not permitted.
“The company then took legal action to try to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere. That failed.
“So the company has now belatedly agreed to invest £200m in cleaning up Lake Windemere. But it’s been dragged kicking and screaming to act.
“United Utilities has spent years focussed on paying out dividends to shareholders and fat cat salaries rather than treating sewage.
“The Group’s CEO has amassed around £1.41m a year in salary and bonuses and the company will pay its investors – which include some of the world’s biggest asset managers – £339m in dividends this year, up from £310m for 2023. This hike follows reported higher operating profits thanks to a rise in customer bills. All this puts the £200m investment into Windemere into sharp focus.
“It’s time to bring United Utilities and all water companies back into public hands so that our bills can be used to improve the service rather than being siphoned off into the pockets of shareholders.”
14 March 2025
New report on rebuilding NHS ‘lays bare the truth’ about privatisation, Labour MP says
Spread the love
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/new-report-rebuilding-nhs-lays-bare-truth-about-privatisation-labour-mp-says
A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward
INCREASED NHS funding during the last Labour government masks how privatisation reduced its efficiency, says a groundbreaking new expert report which was launched in Parliament this week.
The Rational Policy-maker’s Guide to Rebuilding the NHS was produced by academics and NHS professionals at the 99% Organisation and Keep Our NHS Public (KONP).
Cross-party MPs, policy-makers attended the event sponsored by Labour MP Richard Burgon.
Today he said: “This report lays bare the truth that underfunding and creeping privatisation have left our NHS in crisis. But there is a way forward.
“Proper public investment and a commitment to keeping the NHS free at the point of use can rebuild our health service and improve patient outcomes.
“The government must take note: this is not just about economics, it’s about saving lives.”
The report warned that ministers “must skilfully avoid the pitfalls of the past” Labour government, including failing to tackle social care.
…
Founder of the 99% Organisation Mark E Thomas said: “There is no dispute that the NHS is struggling badly, but there is certainly dispute about how to fix it.
“This report demonstrates that calls for further privatisation or an insurance-based system would be catastrophic for both public health and the economy.
“The only viable solution is proper funding, preventive healthcare investment, and tackling the root causes of ill health, including poverty.”
KONP co-chair Dr John Puntis said: “Decades of market-driven policies have eroded our NHS.
“This report makes it clear that the way forward is not more outsourcing or corporate involvement, but a properly funded, publicly run health service that puts patients before profit.
…
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/new-report-rebuilding-nhs-lays-bare-truth-about-privatisation-labour-mp-says
8 March 2025
Thames Water ‘rewarded for years of mismanagement’ with £3bn emergency loan
Spread the love
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-rewarded-for-years-of-mismanagement-with-ps3bn-emergency-loan
A tanker pumps out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire, January 10 ,2024
Customers will bear brunt of sky-high interest rates though increased bills, campaigners warn
THAMES WATER’S £3 billion bailout was approved by the High Court today, triggering outrage as campaigners warned of higher bills from sky-high interest payments.
The High Court cleared the loan just weeks before the debt-laden firm was due to run out of money, temporarily staving off the possibility of special administration and temporary nationalisation.
Former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher wrote off the debts of Britain’s water firms when the industry was privatised in 1989.
But Thames Water, which serves 16 million customers, has since siphoned off £7.2bn in dividends, while amassing £19bn worth of debt.
In his judgment, Justice Leech noted that the headline interest rate on the emergency loan, which stands at 9.75 per cent was “very, very high.”
The Financial Times reported that the bailout could incur as much as £800 million in interest and fees.
…
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-rewarded-for-years-of-mismanagement-with-ps3bn-emergency-loan
Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the “hard times”.
19 February 2025
Miliband urges energy watchdog to act as typical bill could rise by more than £100 a year
Spread the love
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/feb/18/miliband-urges-energy-watchdog-to-act-as-typical-bill-could-rise-by-more-than-100-a-year
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has asked Ofgem to crack down on inaccurate and large bills. Photograph: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images
Exclusive: Whitehall source expects bills in England, Scotland and Wales to rise by about £9 a month over the next three months
Ed Miliband has urged the energy watchdog to take swift action as it emerged that the typical energy bill could soar by more than £100 a year amid a rise in global gas prices.
A Whitehall source said they expected bills in England, Scotland and Wales to increase by about £9 a month over the next three months in another challenge to government plans to tackle the cost of living.
They blamed volatile global gas prices linked to the end of the transit deal that enabled gas to flow to Europe, through Ukraine, from Russia.
Miliband, the energy secretary, has written an urgent letter to Ofgem, saying the price rise means the energy regulator must move faster to protect consumers.
This month, gas prices hit a two-year high, exacerbated by the lack of gas storage in Britain and Europe, combined with colder weather though prices have begun to stabilise. Cornwall Insight, a consultancy which produces closely watched forecasts for the energy price cap, is set to release its latest forecast on Tuesday.
…
Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/feb/18/miliband-urges-energy-watchdog-to-act-as-typical-bill-could-rise-by-more-than-100-a-
18 February 2025
Government and NHS boss ‘rewriting history’ on disastrous PFI
Spread the love
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/government-and-nhs-boss-rewriting-history-on-disastrous-pfi
Health Secretary Wes Streeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not seen) during a visit to Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Epsom, Surrey, January 6, 2025
BACKING private finance in the NHS should be a red line for any health secretary, campaigners charged today.
NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last week that the government should “consider” using private capital to fix the NHS’s crumbling infrastructure.
Today, Health Secretary Wes Streeting faced questions on the same programme about a potential return to failed private-finance initiative (PFI) schemes, in which private firms built hospitals and high-interest repayments were made over the long term.
Mr Streeting said that he does not pretend there are not “enormous challenges” because of NHS capital shortfall, and is “very sympathetic to the argument that we should try and leverage in private finance.”
But he admitted that many of the PFI deals “did lumber the NHS with an enormous cost that it continues to bear.”
…
Johnbosco Nwogbo, of campaign group We Own It, said: “Support for more private finance in our NHS should disqualify you from being health secretary.
“Many NHS trusts are still spending more on PFI debts than on medicines for patients.
…
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/government-and-nhs-boss-rewriting-history-on-disastrous-pfi
18 February 2025

←Previous Page

1 … 10 11 12 13 14 … 30

… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

A UK Socialist's blog

Blog
About
FAQs
Authors

Events
Shop
Patterns
Themes

Twenty Twenty-Five

Designed with WordPress