Excellent article, shame about the divisive headline which is just going to piss people off before they even read it.
CAPX is produced by the Centre for Policy Studies, one of the myriad of ~~propaganda outlets~~ ‘think tanks’ operating out of the infamous 57 Tufton Street.
They have been pushing privatization of public owned asserts since the ’80s, so the idea that they are against re-nationalization is about as surprising as foxes being against reinforcing the door to a henhouse…
I’m long past the point of caring about the needs of billionaires and shareholders when the planet is getting shafted. For 40 years, the people who have owned the water industry have done fuck all in the way of repairs, upgrades or projects.
Seize control of it.
Nationalise it. Stop the profits and dividends. Tighten the KPIs. Reinvest absolutely every single penny into new reservoirs and fixing leaks. Nobody should profit from basic human rights of water and energy.
> Though, of course, one reason the companies have taken on so much debt is that they were so limited by the regulator in terms of the profit they can make: they have effectively been borrowing against their own future, heavily regulated, revenue streams.
Conveniently missing the £57 billion dividend payments in their propaganda piece.
I like how the article somehow gives credit for Scottish Waters superior performance to England. Typical.
Also zero mention of the sale of reservoirs (which didn’t happen in Scotland, meaning they are much better insulated against drought).
The idea that someone can profit from the fact that human beings need water to survive is perverse in concept.
Hmm, doesn’t really tackle the long term problems, and the actual reasons for nationalisation though.
For me, the biggest one is that water costs are so different across the country. Some areas need massive new investment, in a way that no private business can justify whilst the lights are on; others are working, but cost significantly more than others.
The average water bill distribution by company varies by nearly £200 a year, and that’s just because the cheaper companies have to move water shorter distances over newer systems, and the more expensive have to move it further or over older systems.
Only a national scale improvement will actually fix that.
The debt loading is because the poor sad investors couldn’t get enough profit, diddums. Why should maintaining national infrastructure that is necessary for all economic activity, and you know, life, be profitable? How could it be anything other than rent seeking? Every pound given to shareholders is by definition one not being used to build infrastructure.
The dumping statistics are self reported no? Also the fines are judged to be less expensive than proper treatment, an acceptable operating cost for a profit seeking enterprise.
“Look at the high investment in infrastructure!” and yet the service is shit, so pockets have been lined. A trait in common with most privatised utilities.
“The nationalised system needed so much investment, we had to play catch up!” Where are the new reservoirs?
Yes just leave it Ofwat, so there’s a nice powerless middleman to blame first, that I’m sure has never and will never be subject to regulatory capture.
That article is a propaganda piece and not a very good one.
9 comments
Excellent article, shame about the divisive headline which is just going to piss people off before they even read it.
CAPX is produced by the Centre for Policy Studies, one of the myriad of ~~propaganda outlets~~ ‘think tanks’ operating out of the infamous 57 Tufton Street.
They have been pushing privatization of public owned asserts since the ’80s, so the idea that they are against re-nationalization is about as surprising as foxes being against reinforcing the door to a henhouse…
I’m long past the point of caring about the needs of billionaires and shareholders when the planet is getting shafted. For 40 years, the people who have owned the water industry have done fuck all in the way of repairs, upgrades or projects.
Seize control of it.
Nationalise it. Stop the profits and dividends. Tighten the KPIs. Reinvest absolutely every single penny into new reservoirs and fixing leaks. Nobody should profit from basic human rights of water and energy.
> Though, of course, one reason the companies have taken on so much debt is that they were so limited by the regulator in terms of the profit they can make: they have effectively been borrowing against their own future, heavily regulated, revenue streams.
Conveniently missing the £57 billion dividend payments in their propaganda piece.
I like how the article somehow gives credit for Scottish Waters superior performance to England. Typical.
Also zero mention of the sale of reservoirs (which didn’t happen in Scotland, meaning they are much better insulated against drought).
The idea that someone can profit from the fact that human beings need water to survive is perverse in concept.
Hmm, doesn’t really tackle the long term problems, and the actual reasons for nationalisation though.
For me, the biggest one is that water costs are so different across the country. Some areas need massive new investment, in a way that no private business can justify whilst the lights are on; others are working, but cost significantly more than others.
The average water bill distribution by company varies by nearly £200 a year, and that’s just because the cheaper companies have to move water shorter distances over newer systems, and the more expensive have to move it further or over older systems.
Only a national scale improvement will actually fix that.
The debt loading is because the poor sad investors couldn’t get enough profit, diddums. Why should maintaining national infrastructure that is necessary for all economic activity, and you know, life, be profitable? How could it be anything other than rent seeking? Every pound given to shareholders is by definition one not being used to build infrastructure.
The dumping statistics are self reported no? Also the fines are judged to be less expensive than proper treatment, an acceptable operating cost for a profit seeking enterprise.
“Look at the high investment in infrastructure!” and yet the service is shit, so pockets have been lined. A trait in common with most privatised utilities.
“The nationalised system needed so much investment, we had to play catch up!” Where are the new reservoirs?
Yes just leave it Ofwat, so there’s a nice powerless middleman to blame first, that I’m sure has never and will never be subject to regulatory capture.
That article is a propaganda piece and not a very good one.