John Bunn, Sheffield South East Socialist Party
With water companies making £2.8 billion in profits in 2021, we need to ask, how long can this go on? How much longer can we afford the robbery of the water companies taking profits from such an important resource? It has got so bad even the right-wing Daily Mail has criticised the water companies.
With new figures showing increased profits of privatised water companies, large handouts to investors, and record payouts to executives, it is time to take back water into public ownership.
It is not as if we are getting a reasonable service – with decaying infrastructure, a poor record of fixing leaks, and record levels of sewage discharge into our rivers. Our bills are set to climb to a record high – an average of £448 a year – in April.
It is clear that the profit taken out by the water companies is a fetter to solving these problems, and developing a service that benefits us all.
In the summer, there were pictures of people swimming in rivers in France. This reminded me of when I was young swimming in the River Wye in Herefordshire.
I went back there last summer, and found large stretches of the Wye biologically dead, covered in green algae. This is because the run-off from chicken farms has put high levels of phosphates into the river. This, along with record levels of sewage discharge, has created a perfect storm of destruction.
With less resources being put in by the government to monitor water standards, it is clear that water, along with other vital services like power and transport, can only be run effectively by being nationalised. While they’re privately run, profits are maximised, investment limited, and decisions are made for the benefit of investors rather than society.
With socialist nationalisation, compensation is only given where there is proven need, not to the fat cats, and it’s run under democratic workers’ control and management, with local users having a say in decision making.
Only then can we have a service that truly benefits us all, and where pollution can be tackled, so that we can begin to enjoy our rivers and beaches again.
