Water industry hits back at Corbyn’s attack on privatisation

Water companies have hit back at Jeremy Corbyn’s attack on the industry’s privatisation, which he described as a “failed and unpopular experiment”.

In a speech at the GMB Congress in Brighton yesterday (5 June), the Labour leader renewed his call for water and other utilities to be brought back into public ownership.

Announcing he had signed up to the GMB’s “Take Back the Tap” campaign to bring England’s water industry back into public ownership, Corbyn said: “The privatisation of water has been a failed and unpopular experiment. It’s been bad for workers in the industry and bad for bill payers.

“The only people it hasn’t been bad for is the rich shareholders who have extracted huge amounts of dividends on the back of household bills.”

Pointing to how public ownership of water companies was the norm across the western world, he said opponents of its privatisation are “trapped in an irrelevant and outdated world view that serves the interests of the few.”

Corbyn also told the congress Labour would work with the GMB on its plans to bring the industry back into public ownership, claiming the move would cut average household bills by a quarter or free up cash for investment.

Responding to Corbyn’s speech, Michael Roberts, chief executive of Water UK, said the industry had been inadequately funded when it was in public ownership.

He said: “If the water industry was owned and run by the government it would be competing for spending with hospitals and schools, and people have to question whether they think ministers would prioritise spending on water in those circumstances.

“The lack of government funding led to the water industry ending up in a poor state 30 years ago, failing to deliver a good service and damaging the environment. But since privatisation in 1989, water companies have invested around £150 billion on improvements and infrastructure, and continue to spend £8 billion to keep on improving.

“The results are clear – a better environment, customers are five times less likely to suffer from supply interruptions, eight times less likely to suffer from sewer flooding, and 100 times less likely to have lower water pressure.

“The average bill is around a £1 day – and after inflation bills are at pretty much the same level since 1994. No-one has explained how taking the water industry into state ownership would maintain these high levels of investment and the excellent results for customers.”