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Only the Green Party commits to Makerfield public ownership pledges

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https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2026/06/16/public-ownership-makerfield/

Composite image of Restore, Labour, Reform and Green candidates for Makerfield by-election in front of a Bee Network bus. Illustrating questions of candidates on public ownership

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.

Nearly 10,000 emails have been sent to the candidates over the weekend to put pressure on them to reveal their policies. This follows on from a previous letter seeking candidates’ views on support for Palestinian people.

The campaigners point out that in 2025 United Utilities dumped sewage into waterways in Makerfield for over 3,000 hours. The electricity distribution company Electricity North West is rated only 1.9 on Trustpilot and has slowed down grid connections.

In 2025 the local gas distribution company Cadent Gas paid out £38 per household in dividends to its shareholders. These include Australian asset management firm Macquarie and the Chinese sovereign wealth fund.

Cat Hobbs, director of We Own It, said:

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.

Article continues at https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2026/06/16/public-ownership-makerfield/

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Continue ReadingOnly the Green Party commits to Makerfield public ownership pledges

‘Renationalisation is the only way to end Thames Water farce’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/renationalisation-only-way-end-thames-water-farce

 A Thames Water van, August 22, 2025

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.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/renationalisation-only-way-end-thames-water-farce

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)
Continue Reading‘Renationalisation is the only way to end Thames Water farce’

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)
Continue ReadingSewage flowed into rivers, lakes and seas for 1.87 million hours in 2025

Former Wessex Water boss received £170,000 bonus despite ban on performance pay

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/28/former-wessex-water-boss-received-bonus-despite-ban-on-performance-pay

Colin Skellett and David Cameron in 2011. Wessex Water paid Skellett £157,000 for three months’ work from July to September 2024, when he stepped down as chief executive after 36 years in charge. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

Company owners say bonus was unrelated to water business and complied with ban after pollution conviction

The former chief executive of Wessex Water received a £170,000 bonus from its parent company last year despite a ban on performance-related pay after criminal pollution failures on his watch.

Colin Skellett received a total of £693,000 in pay from the water company’s Malaysian-owned parent company, YTL Utilities (UK), including the bonus, according to its accounts up to June 2025.

The bonus prompted strong criticism from the Liberal Democrats, which said it showed that the government’s bonus ban was “nowhere near strong enough”.

Wessex was banned from paying bonuses for the year after it was criminally convicted in November 2024 for a sewage pumping station failure six years earlier, which killed more than 2,000 fish and resulted in the company paying a fine of £500,000. In June the government banned bonuses covering the 2024-25 financial year for the chief executives and finance bosses of Wessex and five other companies. Wessex received another £11m fine last month over more sewage failures.

However, the water industry regulator, Ofwat, said that Skellett was able to retain the bonus under the law, because it was related to a different part of the parent company’s business. YTL is developing housing, offices and an arena in an area north of Bristol known as Brabazon.

A spokesperson for Wessex and YTL said that the bonus “entirely relates to his new role and was entirely funded by YTL. In his new role Colin is responsible for YTL UK group businesses including the development of Brabazon New Town”.

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/28/former-wessex-water-boss-received-bonus-despite-ban-on-performance-pay

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)
Continue ReadingFormer Wessex Water boss received £170,000 bonus despite ban on performance pay

Thames Water want to pollute illegally until 2040

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Continue ReadingThames Water want to pollute illegally until 2040