Fines do not work , freeze their assets sell the company and jail the CEO that's the only way such things wont happen. We need harsher punishments for this kind of damage done to the enviorment and people's lives.
Interesting to learn that the UK has privatized water companies. Seems like a conflict of interest to have a company control a resource people literally need to live.
That’s the point. They were created because when these things were nationally owned no shareholders were getting rich off them. That was unacceptable to neoliberals. They had to be privatised in order to make the rich considerably richer off the backs of people who had no choice about being swindled
It's not privatisation that causes conflict of interest. It's the receiving of "payment" for favours that creates the conflict of interest. It is the corruption of the political establishment that is the more serious problem
You socialists think that clean drinking water and affordable cheese sandwiches are a human right. They are not! Ask Ann Widdecombeor and Jacob Rees-Mogg if you are daft enough to think otherwise. They will explain it to you.
Tories sold public water companies for 7.6 billion, and then gave them 6.5 billion Water price has risen 40% more than inflation since then Water companies give their owners about 2 billion every year in dividens When water companies pour sewage into our sea, Tories fine them about 32 million per year Pretty good business, isn't it? Privatise something everybody needs, hike prices, neglect maintenance, "donate" some money to your friends: rake it in
BT Pension Scheme (of British Telecom plc) has bought stakes in Thames Water in 2012, while Canadian pension funds CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which manages public pension funds in Québec) and CPPIB (Canada Pension Plan Investment Board) have acquired England’s South East Water and Anglian Water, respectively, as reported by Reuters this year. Sovereign Wealth Investment Funds Jumping into Water In January 2012, China Investment Corporation has bought 8.68% stakes in Thames Water, the largest water utility in England, which serves parts of the Greater London area, Thames Valley, and Surrey, among other areas. In November 2012, One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), also purchased 9.9% stake in Thames Water.
@@jamesgravil9162 French had a genius idea. Unlike UK thanks to revolution most of their parasitic nobility got shorter by head. It made space for people to be appreciated on merit not title being born with. And gave rise to greatest Statesman of Europe. Napoleon.
Good example that cooperate greed doesn’t give a f about nature, you, me or anyone else apart their shareholders and executive bonuses. By charging the public to fix the problem they are essentially asking us all to subsidise the profit margins. Utter disgrace. I need a walk…
Why the water department was even privatised this is not something to make money on. People should be on street for this , or I guess they are ok paying higher bills
but all the clean up is mostly for wet wipes and toiletries and condoms etc that have been flushed down the loo by jo public.... just saying. liquid sewage disintegrates rather quickly and doesn't cause half the pollution that those items do.
@@spodface12 and the public have been paying billions per year in excess of what it cost to run the company, which should have been spent running the company and maintaining the infrastructure.
If we decided to not pay sewage charges, defecate in a bucket and dumped it a river, we'd be fined. And rightly so. How can they do it legally and then charge the consumer for their mistakes? It's beyond disgusting.
Water and energy companies need to be brought back to public ownership too much corruption in the UK atm by these private companies and bad politicians
It's unacceptable that the tax payer has more to pay. The water companies have had 35 years and cannot keep blaming Victorian infrastructure. The company bosses should be jailed. The companies should be forced to give this back into national ownership.
@@williammarchant2920 Total rubbish. France is not a comparable model. The size of the country, the distance, remoteness of communities coupled with significantly less rainfall per capita. Fine - long term our bills should go up. The point is that £73 Billion has been raped from this industry to benefit fat-cat investors and almost nothing has been invested in maintaining or improving the infrastructure. Even this morning I heard 'Victorian Systems'. No this is no longer an excuse not after nearly 50 years of ownership. These companies are guilty under law and by the terms of their licence and the people responsible should be in jail now. Not when we give them time to sort things out, 'at our cost' when in fact all they will do do is continue to fail and whilst rinsing the last bit of money they can from the gravy train before it runs out.
Unreal. Water bills rise for the customers in England, to fix the infrastructure of the companies that dump sewage into your waters, while the companies rake in massive profits. Glad I live in Scotland.
There is also the same situation in Scotland. UK water infrastructure has not been upgraded much for 30 or 40 years, that is the problem. Also that the people running the companies prefer investing in their Maldives holiday homes and private education.
@@aliencactus720 no it's not the same situation at all. Scottish Water is a public company answerable to the Scottish government, not privatised companies only interested in profit. There is no sewage being dumped into our waters.
@@HDSPKSRecords-gi1ob as opposed to the complete lack of corruption in the English political system? Do you people understand the difference between publicly owned and privately owned companies? 🤦🏻 Anyway, enjoy swimming in your sewers
Very simply the water companies should rightly finance the investment. The companies concerned should also refund customers' sewerage charges in the same way the mis-sold PPI charges by banks were legally refunded.... The companies' arguments against such measures is that they would no longer be economically viable. If that were the case, then it would make sense to bring them under Government ownership.
They've been financing what little investment they do via corporate loans (because borrowing money was so cheap) and throwing all the profits back to investors as dividends to keep share prices high. To bring them back into public ownership in the short term means we would not only have to compensate investors at an overinflated rate but take on the corporate debt. We need to legislate instead so public utility providers dividends are capped, Community Interest Companies by law, for example, cannot payout more than 35% of profits to investors!
@@tuvaaq Good response - agree. Though by justifiably fining the companies in a punitive way compensating their impact,damage would surely reduce the value of them, prevent an overinflated value and therefore reduce the cost of re-nationalising?
This is what Corbyn wanted to do but everybody lapped up the smear campaign. He was for the people and could have made some real change. The powers that be were afraid that he would mess up their money, so they had to ruin he's name. He would have brought that heat and would have brought everything back under government control. Such a shame.
Hang on a mo - so they gave 72 billion in dividends, pay the chairman of these monopolies millions in salaries and bonuses (for what?) - then he says, it can't be back in public hands because there isn't enough money to run it - what a load of pish! - all that profit could be reinvested directly back into the country instead of going into off-shore accounts. It's criminal this is allowed at all.
I’m so fing tired of these people getting away with murder ffs. Wtf is going on in this country that this wasn’t stopped as soon as the problem emerged. Wtf
You can't call it a "leak" if the sewage was deliberatly dumped. "Yeah, there was a petrol leak through your letterbox, I appologise for that, and for the accidental dropping of the lit match though your letterbox, that was a regrettable oversight and we are internally investigating how that happened".
lit match wouldn't do much. This was tested on mythbusters where they dropped lit matches into a bucket of petrol and it just extinguished on contact. It would have to be a continous flame touching it for a period of time to catch.
@Bob Stiff So it didn't happen on mythbuster is what your saying when it clearly did get tested. So I should trust your word over it being demonstrated.
@@johnwade1095 , what does the borders have to anything? You thinking so mess up that it makes no sense. The reason the water company is dumping sewage to ocean is solely b/c it is CHEAPER, so that they could give their share holder billions of dollars, talk about STUPID, the corporations are scamming people and you worry about border?
We need to take back control of what's ours, that includes parliament, oil, gas, electricity and railways. These companies need to be charged with criminal offences and people need to go to prison. Then the company assets seized and the companies need to be returned to public ownership. Those companies need to be run as legitimate businesses making a profit and paying bonuses etc. We need good people working in public owned companies. The reason the tories got away with selling them was because the culture within them was one of do it later etc. They have been trying to do the same with the NHS.
Several years ago the company I worked for had a heating oil leak into a storm drain. It wasn't a great deal but we had emergency arrangements in place and quickly set them to work. A specialist firm assisted, tracked the water/oil to the nearby river and set oil booms etc out and we caugh most of it. The environment officer took samples and then read me my rights as we were polluting the river. The irony was the outrun point was beside the local sewage works and you could see the untreated filth running past us as he did it. There was actual toilet paper sticking in the weeds in the outfall from it and when I asked what he was going to do about that and he simply said said "nothing, they have permission". In the end they reconed less than a pint of oil made it to the river and we weren't prosicuted but I remember clearly the muck flowing freely into the river.
The interview was so evasive, they had two completely different conversations. MP's have a remarkable ability to talk incessantly without actually saying anything at all.
Question to MP - 'Do you think its fair the taxpayer foots the bill?'. Answer from MP - 'I'm standing infront of the River Thames...'. He's more slippery than the turds floating past behind him.
But, hang on a minute for years we in South Devon paid over the top water bills approaching London prices so that the whole system in this area could be renewed. What happened to that money???!!!
I live in Blackpool a seaside resort with children playing on the beach. I used to walk my dogs on the beach until 2022 when my dogs and house started to smell like a sewer, due to COVID they didn't check the water quality so they been pumping raw sewage into the ocean but so much that it's now under the sand. Under south pier dig 2 foot down and you find it. So what did they do to fix this they about 20, 9 inch pipes that pump fresh water that are visible and there are pipes under the sand. The sea wall/steps is now bleached be the council because of the green algae that grows because of the over amount of bacteria being pumped there. All of OUR utilities have to come back to public control. THESE COMPANIES DONT CARE ABOUT ANYTHING APART FROM PROFIT. DONT PAY YOUR WATER BILLS THEY CAN ONLY SEND A DEMAND PAPER THEY CANNOT TAKE YOU TO COURT AND CANNOT DO ANYTHING TO RECLAIM THERE PROFIT. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THEM IS TO REMOVE THERE MONEY.
The public should certainly not pay for the sewage leaks. This is the way it works, water was privatised and, as such, should work as a private business. The cost of rectifying this ghastly mistake should be borne wholly by the water companies and bonuses for managers and share dividends should be suspended until the entire cost is covered. We saw this ridiculousness a few years back with the banks, private entities that failed and were then bailed out by the state i.e.. taxpayers money. Using the state, or increasing bills exponentially to pay for business failures is simply not acceptable, and statements such as "we've listenedd, we've heard" do not wash with me (could you imagine a criminal in the dock claiming "lessons learned" as being an acceptable defence? Of course you would not).
It is an absolute disgrace that the water companies can say “sorry” and get away with it, yet John Price says “sorry” for clearing the River Lugg to stop houses from flooding, yet ends up in Prison! Sometimes I’m ashamed to be a member of the population of this Country. Where were the EA while this sewage is being dumped into rivers?
We’ve already had the price increase to pay for this and they gave the money to shareholders. Time for those shareholders to put the money back in. Legislate these criminals out of business and buy each company for £1. The Tory mp who claimed he swam in sewage as a child can put his mouth were the sewage is. Is this another brexit benefit? The argument that nationalising water companies would need government funding is spurious, they’re profitable, nationalisation would divert the profits from shareholders to spending on infrastructure. This is what we were promised when they were privatised.
I think the problem goes much deeper than just the water companies. The first problem that needs solving is the waste of taxpayer money on literally everything. Like Philip said, nationalising the water companies is going to divert funds away from other public services and we'll end up paying for it but with increasing taxes instead. The best thing we can do is to democratise the water companies by forcing them to sell shares to the public. Southwest water do this every once in a while and I've been meaning to buy shares but I always miss my opportunity. And once we've done that to water companies, we'll move on to power and internet companies, yeah? I don't think this will actually catch on though since it's a socialist solution and many people still see socialism as bad (even though it's the same ideals that the NHS was founded on)
Utter nonsense. Btw nationalisation won’t cost a penny. The water companies have broken the law. Legislation, if not already in place, requiring them to spend the £75bn, they’ve given away to shareholders, to build the necessary infrastructure that they should already have built. Privatisation was supposed to solve this problem, bills went up to pay for it and water companies have indebted themselves and sent billions in profits to their shareholders. Your idea is for the poor public to buy shares? Even if they did they would never defeat the existing shareholders in a vote and it would be a very unwise investment because when the tories don’t fix this, labour will. Regulate them out of business, prison sentences for board members who pollute and the problem will be solved. Rather than profits going to shareholders they will be invested to solve the problem. Interesting that Damian Green who has received ‘donations’ from at least one water company thinks swimming in sewage was fine when he was a child. The bill payer bailing out these companies and their greedy shareholders is socialism and that seems fine with this Tory, bought and paid for, government.
@@ECECECECEC Please understand that I'm on the same side as you. Yes I believe the shareholders should be paying for this. Yes, I do think a nationalised system would be better. I just don't think those goals are realistic with the way everything is going right now. We need solutions that align with our current capitalist system, quick to implement and benefit everyday people like you and me. Whether we like it or not, the shareholders haven't actually committed a crime and are under no obligation to give their money back, other than morality. Did it really sound to you like the government are actually going to do anything that benefits us? I'm not doing that well myself but I'm willing to invest in a company if it gives me a say over how it's operated. We 'the poor public' spent £22Bn last year on fast food alone. That's 25% of the ENTIRE water industry we could've bought if all we did was collectively decide to make better food choices. I don't care if you disagree with me but "hey fam you have to like, give that money back, init" Just isn't good enough
that's how the French keep there bills down the profits from nationalised companies goes back to the population.. and we help as edf is a national french company...
The water companies collect money from customers for handling the sewage so of course they have to cover the bills because they got paid for it already. Otherwise they must return the money they have received already.
The bill payer has already paid the water companies to maintain their plants and prevent raw sewage getting into our rivers and the sea. Any extra money needed must come from their obscene profits even if it means a reduced dividend to investors. Our bills should not be increased. The public is not a bottomless pit of money……
We need to nationalise water, energy, agriculture, transport, health and education at the least. Need high prosecution and fines.for companies that damage the natural environment.
fining them is a waste of time it will only go on to the customers bill, they need to be jailed, but those at the top will always find an employee to blame
It is incredible that we are even discussing this travesty. Why is there no ongoing check? Happy they have apologised? Are you for real? WHY ARE THESE COMPANIES ALLOWED TO DO THIS!!! IF it happens once, they should get a warning, twice a hefty fine and third time, they lose the right to operate this valuable utility. Honestly people, we are being taken for a ride here (again!).
Before I sign the contract I want it understood that should we over charge break all the rules and send £billions overseas etc all costs will be charged to the customer.
because he and the tory party profits from this.. Thames Water, along with all other water companies in England, was privatised in 1989 when Margaret Thatcher sold off the publicly owned water and sewage industry for £7.6bn.
So glad I left the UK. My mothly water bill arrived today.....the princely sum of 75p. The most expensive electric bill I've had was £15 p/mth. The utility companies rob everyone blind over there. While they toast to record profits and dividend payouts to the shareholders, public services crumble.
Similar situations happening in other parts of the UK were its still public, Just since the populations are much smaller a similar point will take longer to reach with the scale differences.
@@kurtgodel5236 I support markets but some industries just don't work effectively in the private sector. The NHS being privatised would be a tragedy for example. The national rail being privatised has also been a disaster.
@@RickyT15 Private water companies leak about 20 per cent of our limited water supply. And they routinely discharge raw sewage into rivers and beaches. This is a first-world country and our beaches are overflowing with sewage. Routinely the worst quality in Europe. So let's not let them off the hook with comments such as 'public are just as bad' because, on a case-by-case basis, it's not the case. Instead of paying for the infrastructure to fix this, they siphon our money out to shareholders. 95 per cent of company profits went to shareholders between 2007 and 2016. There's a reason our water industry is referred to as "the world's piggy bank". They're all foreign-owned and make whoever owns them a fortune at the expense of the British taxpayer and our spectacular environment. It's nothing short of an outrage it makes my blood boil at the incompetency and injustice.
That’s outrageous what they are doing with raw sewage. In Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺 all our sewage is properly treated and filtered thru many many treatment ponds and wetlands before it’s release. The wetlands are a haven for many rare and protected birds and many birdwatchers go there for sightings. Our rivers are pretty clean as a result. I hope that England can clean up. It’s a disgrace that the water companies have treated the environment as their own dumping ground. Best of luck.
It's ironic how some companies prioritise their greed over taking necessary precautions or allocating funds for required work. They then shift the burden onto the public, expecting them to bear the cost of fixing the mistakes. This cycle often leads to another gradual decline or deterioration. It can be difficult to comprehend that this is the reality we live in, and it can feel like a massive joke on us
Time to hand it back where it belongs, in public ownership, water and sewerage is not for profit but for the well being and health of the nation, Greedy CEO's and shareholders need to stop robbing the public and do the job they're paid for or get lost!
Surely we can’t expect these private companies to clean up public spaces? The shareholders need their bonuses it’s immoral to expect them to claim their wages and expect them to do what they should be doing and improving infrastructure.
“We’ve listened” to what?!? People saying don’t pump sewage into our rivers and onto our beaches?! Because it’s not obvious people don’t want that happening
Plus don’t forgot the Tory’s tough bill passed last year we were assured the toughest of action was being taken, they just forgot to mention that it would take 25 years and the tough bit meant tough luck public you pay
You can’t charge the public a fortune to make serious profit, pay their top executives an absolute mint and then expect them to squander that profits on actually doing what we have been paying them for surely 🤔!🙄
As for the privatisation of train companies, the British public is once again victim of the lack of interest from private investors to invest into infrastructures. Private investors are happy to buy/rent facilities when they are in good working state and profitable. Once the private investors realised that they have to abide to some costly rules/laws or that they must spend money in the infrastructures, they rely on the tax payer "generosity" to compensate for their avarice. Let's be clear, the successive British Governments have been unable to curb those kinds of practices. With the Tory in power, this status quo will continue for decades to come.
The only way that I can see there could be any chance of sufficient compensation or punishment would be to directly fine and imprison the executives and take back the utilities without compensation to any shareholder. Anything short of that would be a slap on the wrists for an "industry" that caused such widescale ecological devastation while simultaneously extracting wealth from the public to shareholders.
Absolute outrage, the shareholders and water companies should be the only ones made to pay to fix this. 0 payments made to shareholders and 0 bonuses until they fix this at their own cost. And the fix should certainly not come from increasing the publics bill. They should be taken to court and leaders thrown in prison.
They need to cap the amount of profit that private companies can make relative to investment for businesses that provide utilities and services that are needed as part of the national infrastructure. That might not sound attractive to shareholders but the trade off is the fact that they are in an industry where they is essentially none of the risk that most 'normal' businesses have due to the fact that they are essential services.
@@williammckee6165 I don't think any businesses should rip off their customers but I think if you are going to privatise national infrastructure then there needs to be some regulation on how much profit can be extracted to account for the fact that you essentially have a captive market.
Great business opportunity for corporations like Nestlè! If the "drinking" water becomes sufficiently polluted that no one in their right mind would drink it anymore, they can swoop in and sell you bottled water for 5 pound a bottle. :-)
"Take back control" never meant to hold these investorment company owners to account. This whole situation is outrageous and regional split privatisation just meant there's too many to hold accountable.
The 'Privatisation' of the water industry was sold to the public on the basis that private businesses could and would raise capital for modernisation on the financial markets much more easily !1.4 billion in profits very nice indeed!
Can’t we sue them for putting share holders first and not only not doing their job properly but blatantly breaking the law. They are criminals pure and simple and they should be prosecuted
Of course we are outraged.. sick of these huge companies just sucking money out of us and not using it for what it’s meant for. Eventually there will be no competition and no other options.. and that is the plan.
Most important of all those util-co shareholders were kept satisfied. And if the government was running the show there wouldn't need to be stock dividend payments, would there?
@@stephenwalker2924 No, there is no need for you to live. That's a life choice you may not be able to afford. Affordable water and cheese sandwiches are not a human right.
I already am. My water bill has gone up by £5 a month in Wales. No extra usage, in fact less as I live on my own. We shouldn't be paying for it, dividends should. Re-nationalize if they want us to pay for it, otherwise the shareholders have to.
"It's got to be paid for somehow" lol I'm sick of rich people telling me what i "have" to pay for. I'll be honest though, I wouldn't mind paying for water infrastructure if i wasnt paying for a bs war and giving energy and pharma companies insane profits for no good reason. Poor peoples money is being more and more centralised into the hands of the rich.
It is truly repulsive how these companies believe they should gain both the massive profits that they do while also ignoring all the responsibilities. They need to stop pretending to be a public service, and actually pay for their screwups instead of forcing the taxpayer to instead.
I watched as the river near where I grew up was flooded with sewage and pollution. The fish all died first, then the frogs all left and then all of the grass snakes and larger animals left too. Disgusting how these people have been getting away with these criminal acts.
The water companies do not 'dump' sewage into rivers intentionally. The present infrastructure just can't cope with the huge increase in the population and the pouring of so much concrete over natural soakaways. I used to work in the water industry in the UK (severn trent) and they take any overflow seriously - they've always been fined heavily for every gallon that escapes the wells, tanks and flumes and gets into the river. Tankers are always on standby to drive to any sewage works that is under threat of overflowing due to pump breakdown or electronic telemetry failure. Water always finds the lowest point,which is either the sea or a river. The huge population increase in recent years is not helping and the house building programme over green field sites is going to exacerbate the problem even more. The water companies just can't build sewage works and pump houses fast enough to keep up with demand. There are just not enough hours in the day to install so much extra infrastructure.
Sorry doesn’t keep our environment safe! They need to do more than saying sorry! They should be made to do more. This money needs to come from the CEOs and the bonuses! Not the people.
Water companies moved from a preventative to reactive maintenance and repair system and just pocketed the cash until it all fell apart. They’ve already been given the money for the job, but they haven’t done it.
Sorry?! What good is an empty apology. I want these corrupt men and women fined and jailed
I hear you, I understand you didn't like me kicking you in the nuts every day for years, I'm sorry.
All good, right?
@@parametr
It's all good.
It's not like you're going to resume kicking me a minute later... oh wait
Fines do not work , freeze their assets sell the company and jail the CEO that's the only way such things wont happen. We need harsher punishments for this kind of damage done to the enviorment and people's lives.
That's the government. They imported 10m people, and expect you to pick up the tab for the infrastructure expansion required.
Then make sure you and everyone else stops voting for the party that protects them and allows them to do this.
Interesting to learn that the UK has privatized water companies. Seems like a conflict of interest to have a company control a resource people literally need to live.
That’s the point. They were created because when these things were nationally owned no shareholders were getting rich off them. That was unacceptable to neoliberals. They had to be privatised in order to make the rich considerably richer off the backs of people who had no choice about being swindled
Aye, another shambolic mistake of the 80's Thatcher government just like the privatisation of the rail and mail network in the UK.
It's not privatisation that causes conflict of interest. It's the receiving of "payment" for favours that creates the conflict of interest. It is the corruption of the political establishment that is the more serious problem
You socialists think that clean drinking water and affordable cheese sandwiches are a human right. They are not! Ask Ann Widdecombeor and Jacob Rees-Mogg if you are daft enough to think otherwise. They will explain it to you.
Wouldn't surprise me if they also received government subsidies as well. Classic move of the corrupt.
Tories sold public water companies for 7.6 billion, and then gave them 6.5 billion
Water price has risen 40% more than inflation since then
Water companies give their owners about 2 billion every year in dividens
When water companies pour sewage into our sea, Tories fine them about 32 million per year
Pretty good business, isn't it?
Privatise something everybody needs, hike prices, neglect maintenance, "donate" some money to your friends: rake it in
BT Pension Scheme (of British Telecom plc) has bought stakes in Thames Water in 2012, while Canadian pension funds CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which manages public pension funds in Québec) and CPPIB (Canada Pension Plan Investment Board) have acquired England’s South East Water and Anglian Water, respectively, as reported by Reuters this year.
Sovereign Wealth Investment Funds Jumping into Water
In January 2012, China Investment Corporation has bought 8.68% stakes in Thames Water, the largest water utility in England, which serves parts of the Greater London area, Thames Valley, and Surrey, among other areas.
In November 2012, One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), also purchased 9.9% stake in Thames Water.
This country has turned into dump, I've never really understood how people could sit there and sell out their country for chump change
Mad w, if that’s the case with these countries then the turds belong to them so we can ship all the turds to them then 👍🏻
That's the UK in a nutshell, drain the tax pot dry, then claim more is needed
Conservatives? Destroying public services so they can privatise them and then get a cut of the profits? No fuckin way
These water company boses should be in prison and the companies paying for it out of their profits and shareholders.
Agree. Prison prison prison.
Or on a guillotine. The French had the right idea.
@@jamesgravil9162 French had a genius idea. Unlike UK thanks to revolution most of their parasitic nobility got shorter by head. It made space for people to be appreciated on merit not title being born with. And gave rise to greatest Statesman of Europe. Napoleon.
Profits are private and losses are public. Sounds like a pretty good deal.
Good example that cooperate greed doesn’t give a f about nature, you, me or anyone else apart their shareholders and executive bonuses. By charging the public to fix the problem they are essentially asking us all to subsidise the profit margins. Utter disgrace. I need a walk…
Why the water department was even privatised this is not something to make money on. People should be on street for this , or I guess they are ok paying higher bills
it is nothing less than class warfare. And we the masses aren't winning.
They are utterly contempt. How dare they try and pass on the cost to the public while putting shareholders and themselves first. And a sorry?
but all the clean up is mostly for wet wipes and toiletries and condoms etc that have been flushed down the loo by jo public.... just saying. liquid sewage disintegrates rather quickly and doesn't cause half the pollution that those items do.
@@spodface12 and the public have been paying billions per year in excess of what it cost to run the company, which should have been spent running the company and maintaining the infrastructure.
If we decided to not pay sewage charges, defecate in a bucket and dumped it a river, we'd be fined. And rightly so. How can they do it legally and then charge the consumer for their mistakes? It's beyond disgusting.
They have money to bribe the politicains and you don't.. That is the difference..
thats what we used to do only 300 yrs ago🤣
@@raymondhill8973I heard people just launched it out of the window pre-Victorian times
🤷🏻♂️🤮💩
Listen to these politicians defending there buddies!!!! Make those companies pay from shareholder profits, not customer increases.
of course they defend them they get a nice big slice of the pie
Water and energy companies need to be brought back to public ownership too much corruption in the UK atm by these private companies and bad politicians
It's unacceptable that the tax payer has more to pay. The water companies have had 35 years and cannot keep blaming Victorian infrastructure. The company bosses should be jailed. The companies should be forced to give this back into national ownership.
Nonsense. Our water is far too cheap and has been ever since it was privatised. In France water cost three times as much.
@@williammarchant2920 Total rubbish. France is not a comparable model. The size of the country, the distance, remoteness of communities coupled with significantly less rainfall per capita. Fine - long term our bills should go up. The point is that £73 Billion has been raped from this industry to benefit fat-cat investors and almost nothing has been invested in maintaining or improving the infrastructure. Even this morning I heard 'Victorian Systems'. No this is no longer an excuse not after nearly 50 years of ownership. These companies are guilty under law and by the terms of their licence and the people responsible should be in jail now. Not when we give them time to sort things out, 'at our cost' when in fact all they will do do is continue to fail and whilst rinsing the last bit of money they can from the gravy train before it runs out.
@@williammarchant2920 Imagine complaining that something is "far too cheap".
We see you, Tory. We see you.
@@williammarchant2920 do you work for the tories lol
@Brennuvargr WTF - you are the one saying its too cheap not me. How does wanting to re-nationalise water make me a tory????
Unreal. Water bills rise for the customers in England, to fix the infrastructure of the companies that dump sewage into your waters, while the companies rake in massive profits. Glad I live in Scotland.
There is also the same situation in Scotland. UK water infrastructure has not been upgraded much for 30 or 40 years, that is the problem. Also that the people running the companies prefer investing in their Maldives holiday homes and private education.
@@aliencactus720 no it's not the same situation at all. Scottish Water is a public company answerable to the Scottish government, not privatised companies only interested in profit. There is no sewage being dumped into our waters.
Then ring them and tell them you aren’t going to pay it
@@Levitator07 "Answerable to the Scottish government" - i.e. ringfenced by corruption, at least while the SNP are in power.
@@HDSPKSRecords-gi1ob as opposed to the complete lack of corruption in the English political system? Do you people understand the difference between publicly owned and privately owned companies? 🤦🏻
Anyway, enjoy swimming in your sewers
Very simply the water companies should rightly finance the investment. The companies concerned should also refund customers' sewerage charges in the same way the mis-sold PPI charges by banks were legally refunded.... The companies' arguments against such measures is that they would no longer be economically viable. If that were the case, then it would make sense to bring them under Government ownership.
They've been financing what little investment they do via corporate loans (because borrowing money was so cheap) and throwing all the profits back to investors as dividends to keep share prices high. To bring them back into public ownership in the short term means we would not only have to compensate investors at an overinflated rate but take on the corporate debt. We need to legislate instead so public utility providers dividends are capped, Community Interest Companies by law, for example, cannot payout more than 35% of profits to investors!
@@tuvaaq Good response - agree. Though by justifiably fining the companies in a punitive way compensating their impact,damage would surely reduce the value of them, prevent an overinflated value and therefore reduce the cost of re-nationalising?
Hear hear!
This is what Corbyn wanted to do but everybody lapped up the smear campaign. He was for the people and could have made some real change. The powers that be were afraid that he would mess up their money, so they had to ruin he's name. He would have brought that heat and would have brought everything back under government control. Such a shame.
Haha this isn’t Disney. It’s real life
Hang on a mo - so they gave 72 billion in dividends, pay the chairman of these monopolies millions in salaries and bonuses (for what?) - then he says, it can't be back in public hands because there isn't enough money to run it - what a load of pish! - all that profit could be reinvested directly back into the country instead of going into off-shore accounts. It's criminal this is allowed at all.
What are you guys complaining about, they said they were sorry. Lol.
if it ends up back in public hands our politicians will lose their backhanders, little brown envelope or slice of the pie possibly all three
Why is water privatized ? That is a crime against humanity
Uk in a nutshell, privatised the railways, disaster. Privatised water, disaster. Soon the nhs. Clusterfuckery
For profits?
Because Tories, because Margaret Thatcher
You don’t have to pay for the cleaned sewage they pump through the taps as they can’t cut you off for not paying
@@inkman6964 but they can cut off your water supply? Meaning you can't flush the toilet?
I’m so fing tired of these people getting away with murder ffs. Wtf is going on in this country that this wasn’t stopped as soon as the problem emerged. Wtf
Money and profits take precedence over the environment
An apology? A fucking APOLOGY?! these people should be locked up. I cant wrap my head around this.
You can't call it a "leak" if the sewage was deliberatly dumped. "Yeah, there was a petrol leak through your letterbox, I appologise for that, and for the accidental dropping of the lit match though your letterbox, that was a regrettable oversight and we are internally investigating how that happened".
Think they mean the story was leaked and they got caught out 🤨!
lit match wouldn't do much. This was tested on mythbusters where they dropped lit matches into a bucket of petrol and it just extinguished on contact. It would have to be a continous flame touching it for a period of time to catch.
@@RickyT15 You have obviously never worked with petrol! It's diesel that can extinguish a match, not petrol.
@Bob Stiff So it didn't happen on mythbuster is what your saying when it clearly did get tested. So I should trust your word over it being demonstrated.
@@RickyT15 can you put a bucket of petrol in the middle of your living room, drop a lit match into it and film it for youtube please?
this is what happens when you privatize EVERYTHING
This is what happens when you open the borders. Those extra 10m poo too.
@@johnwade1095 Silly little racist c*nt. Jog on brownshirt.
No...This is what happens when you get Brexit Done !!!!!😂
@@chello70 Done really badly. I don't know if this is incompetence or sabotage, but think the latter.
@@johnwade1095 , what does the borders have to anything? You thinking so mess up that it makes no sense. The reason the water company is dumping sewage to ocean is solely b/c it is CHEAPER, so that they could give their share holder billions of dollars, talk about STUPID, the corporations are scamming people and you worry about border?
What a cheek!
They've got the money, and they want more from us??? Unbelievable.
they control the water its not like people can say no
@@xelthiavice4276 you can physically demand change
@@lukemorgan6166 lol yeah ok sure....
But not sorry for paying £70b in dividends. Its not profit it is money that is needed for infrastructure.
You have got Brexit, you don't need any infrastructure anymore.
The water companies acted criminally, they have broken laws. They should pay
What law?
@@LordOfLight environmental protection. Negligence....
@@chipko You don't know do you. You haven't a clue. You just wrote down the first words that came into your head.
Instead we pay 😂
We need to take back control of what's ours, that includes parliament, oil, gas, electricity and railways. These companies need to be charged with criminal offences and people need to go to prison. Then the company assets seized and the companies need to be returned to public ownership. Those companies need to be run as legitimate businesses making a profit and paying bonuses etc. We need good people working in public owned companies. The reason the tories got away with selling them was because the culture within them was one of do it later etc. They have been trying to do the same with the NHS.
Several years ago the company I worked for had a heating oil leak into a storm drain. It wasn't a great deal but we had emergency arrangements in place and quickly set them to work. A specialist firm assisted, tracked the water/oil to the nearby river and set oil booms etc out and we caugh most of it. The environment officer took samples and then read me my rights as we were polluting the river. The irony was the outrun point was beside the local sewage works and you could see the untreated filth running past us as he did it. There was actual toilet paper sticking in the weeds in the outfall from it and when I asked what he was going to do about that and he simply said said "nothing, they have permission". In the end they reconed less than a pint of oil made it to the river and we weren't prosicuted but I remember clearly the muck flowing freely into the river.
The interview was so evasive, they had two completely different conversations. MP's have a remarkable ability to talk incessantly without actually saying anything at all.
I think his face spoke volumes when the word nationalised was mentioned.
Question to MP - 'Do you think its fair the taxpayer foots the bill?'. Answer from MP - 'I'm standing infront of the River Thames...'.
He's more slippery than the turds floating past behind him.
Poor journalism allowing him to get away with that as an answer.
MPs never EVER give a straight answer. They receive training in avoidance response.
This kind of thing needs to stop. It's outta control.
Control is bad for you.
But, hang on a minute for years we in South Devon paid over the top water bills approaching London prices so that the whole system in this area could be renewed. What happened to that money???!!!
I live in Blackpool a seaside resort with children playing on the beach. I used to walk my dogs on the beach until 2022 when my dogs and house started to smell like a sewer, due to COVID they didn't check the water quality so they been pumping raw sewage into the ocean but so much that it's now under the sand. Under south pier dig 2 foot down and you find it. So what did they do to fix this they about 20, 9 inch pipes that pump fresh water that are visible and there are pipes under the sand. The sea wall/steps is now bleached be the council because of the green algae that grows because of the over amount of bacteria being pumped there. All of OUR utilities have to come back to public control. THESE COMPANIES DONT CARE ABOUT ANYTHING APART FROM PROFIT. DONT PAY YOUR WATER BILLS THEY CAN ONLY SEND A DEMAND PAPER THEY CANNOT TAKE YOU TO COURT AND CANNOT DO ANYTHING TO RECLAIM THERE PROFIT. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THEM IS TO REMOVE THERE MONEY.
The public should certainly not pay for the sewage leaks. This is the way it works, water was privatised and, as such, should work as a private business. The cost of rectifying this ghastly mistake should be borne wholly by the water companies and bonuses for managers and share dividends should be suspended until the entire cost is covered. We saw this ridiculousness a few years back with the banks, private entities that failed and were then bailed out by the state i.e.. taxpayers money. Using the state, or increasing bills exponentially to pay for business failures is simply not acceptable, and statements such as "we've listenedd, we've heard" do not wash with me (could you imagine a criminal in the dock claiming "lessons learned" as being an acceptable defence? Of course you would not).
The only solution is to make bosses personally liable so they can be jailed and fined unlimited amounts.
Better turn back the clock to the early 20th century with the invention of the LLP 😌
It is an absolute disgrace that the water companies can say “sorry” and get away with it, yet John Price says “sorry” for clearing the River Lugg to stop houses from flooding, yet ends up in Prison!
Sometimes I’m ashamed to be a member of the population of this Country.
Where were the EA while this sewage is being dumped into rivers?
We’ve already had the price increase to pay for this and they gave the money to shareholders. Time for those shareholders to put the money back in. Legislate these criminals out of business and buy each company for £1. The Tory mp who claimed he swam in sewage as a child can put his mouth were the sewage is. Is this another brexit benefit? The argument that nationalising water companies would need government funding is spurious, they’re profitable, nationalisation would divert the profits from shareholders to spending on infrastructure. This is what we were promised when they were privatised.
I think the problem goes much deeper than just the water companies. The first problem that needs solving is the waste of taxpayer money on literally everything.
Like Philip said, nationalising the water companies is going to divert funds away from other public services and we'll end up paying for it but with increasing taxes instead.
The best thing we can do is to democratise the water companies by forcing them to sell shares to the public. Southwest water do this every once in a while and I've been meaning to buy shares but I always miss my opportunity.
And once we've done that to water companies, we'll move on to power and internet companies, yeah?
I don't think this will actually catch on though since it's a socialist solution and many people still see socialism as bad (even though it's the same ideals that the NHS was founded on)
Utter nonsense. Btw nationalisation won’t cost a penny. The water companies have broken the law. Legislation, if not already in place, requiring them to spend the £75bn, they’ve given away to shareholders, to build the necessary infrastructure that they should already have built. Privatisation was supposed to solve this problem, bills went up to pay for it and water companies have indebted themselves and sent billions in profits to their shareholders. Your idea is for the poor public to buy shares? Even if they did they would never defeat the existing shareholders in a vote and it would be a very unwise investment because when the tories don’t fix this, labour will. Regulate them out of business, prison sentences for board members who pollute and the problem will be solved. Rather than profits going to shareholders they will be invested to solve the problem. Interesting that Damian Green who has received ‘donations’ from at least one water company thinks swimming in sewage was fine when he was a child. The bill payer bailing out these companies and their greedy shareholders is socialism and that seems fine with this Tory, bought and paid for, government.
@@ECECECECEC Please understand that I'm on the same side as you. Yes I believe the shareholders should be paying for this. Yes, I do think a nationalised system would be better. I just don't think those goals are realistic with the way everything is going right now.
We need solutions that align with our current capitalist system, quick to implement and benefit everyday people like you and me. Whether we like it or not, the shareholders haven't actually committed a crime and are under no obligation to give their money back, other than morality. Did it really sound to you like the government are actually going to do anything that benefits us?
I'm not doing that well myself but I'm willing to invest in a company if it gives me a say over how it's operated. We 'the poor public' spent £22Bn last year on fast food alone. That's 25% of the ENTIRE water industry we could've bought if all we did was collectively decide to make better food choices.
I don't care if you disagree with me but "hey fam you have to like, give that money back, init" Just isn't good enough
that's how the French keep there bills down the profits from nationalised companies goes back to the population.. and we help as edf is a national french company...
The water companies collect money from customers for handling the sewage so of course they have to cover the bills because they got paid for it already. Otherwise they must return the money they have received already.
They should be massively fined and CEO’s jailed
The bill payer has already paid the water companies to maintain their plants and prevent raw sewage getting into our rivers and the sea. Any extra money needed must come from their obscene profits even if it means a reduced dividend to investors. Our bills should not be increased. The public is not a bottomless pit of money……
We need to nationalise water, energy, agriculture, transport, health and education at the least. Need high prosecution and fines.for companies that damage the natural environment.
fining them is a waste of time it will only go on to the customers bill, they need to be jailed, but those at the top will always find an employee to blame
It is incredible that we are even discussing this travesty. Why is there no ongoing check? Happy they have apologised? Are you for real? WHY ARE THESE COMPANIES ALLOWED TO DO THIS!!! IF it happens once, they should get a warning, twice a hefty fine and third time, they lose the right to operate this valuable utility. Honestly people, we are being taken for a ride here (again!).
Before I sign the contract I want it understood that should we over charge break all the rules and send £billions overseas etc all costs will be charged to the customer.
Its like BP's apology.
We're sorry.
_Sorry._
We're deeply sorry. I'm, sorry.
Why is Rishi Sunak not doing ANYTHING?
Munnnneee.
They paid him off 😂
because he and the tory party profits from this..
Thames Water, along with all other water companies in England, was privatised in 1989 when Margaret Thatcher sold off the publicly owned water and sewage industry for £7.6bn.
So glad I left the UK. My mothly water bill arrived today.....the princely sum of 75p. The most expensive electric bill I've had was £15 p/mth. The utility companies rob everyone blind over there. While they toast to record profits and dividend payouts to the shareholders, public services crumble.
Where is that, may I ask?
They should have never been privatised.
Socialist!
Similar situations happening in other parts of the UK were its still public, Just since the populations are much smaller a similar point will take longer to reach with the scale differences.
@@kurtgodel5236 National Socialist* and Yes.
@@kurtgodel5236 I support markets but some industries just don't work effectively in the private sector. The NHS being privatised would be a tragedy for example. The national rail being privatised has also been a disaster.
@@RickyT15 Private water companies leak about 20 per cent of our limited water supply. And they routinely discharge raw sewage into rivers and beaches. This is a first-world country and our beaches are overflowing with sewage. Routinely the worst quality in Europe. So let's not let them off the hook with comments such as 'public are just as bad' because, on a case-by-case basis, it's not the case.
Instead of paying for the infrastructure to fix this, they siphon our money out to shareholders. 95 per cent of company profits went to shareholders between 2007 and 2016.
There's a reason our water industry is referred to as "the world's piggy bank". They're all foreign-owned and make whoever owns them a fortune at the expense of the British taxpayer and our spectacular environment. It's nothing short of an outrage it makes my blood boil at the incompetency and injustice.
That’s outrageous what they are doing with raw sewage. In Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺 all our sewage is properly treated and filtered thru many many treatment ponds and wetlands before it’s release. The wetlands are a haven for many rare and protected birds and many birdwatchers go there for sightings. Our rivers are pretty clean as a result. I hope that England can clean up. It’s a disgrace that the water companies have treated the environment as their own dumping ground. Best of luck.
It's ironic how some companies prioritise their greed over taking necessary precautions or allocating funds for required work. They then shift the burden onto the public, expecting them to bear the cost of fixing the mistakes. This cycle often leads to another gradual decline or deterioration. It can be difficult to comprehend that this is the reality we live in, and it can feel like a massive joke on us
Time to hand it back where it belongs, in public ownership, water and sewerage is not for profit but for the well being and health of the nation, Greedy CEO's and shareholders need to stop robbing the public and do the job they're paid for or get lost!
Surely we can’t expect these private companies to clean up public spaces? The shareholders need their bonuses it’s immoral to expect them to claim their wages and expect them to do what they should be doing and improving infrastructure.
“We’ve listened” to what?!? People saying don’t pump sewage into our rivers and onto our beaches?! Because it’s not obvious people don’t want that happening
Plus don’t forgot the Tory’s tough bill passed last year we were assured the toughest of action was being taken, they just forgot to mention that it would take 25 years and the tough bit meant tough luck public you pay
You can’t charge the public a fortune to make serious profit, pay their top executives an absolute mint and then expect them to squander that profits on actually doing what we have been paying them for surely 🤔!🙄
Judge: You have been found guilty.
Offender: Yes and I said I was sorry now isn't it about time someone else paid for my mistakes?
That about sums it up.
Judge: No, its about time YOU paid for your mistakes. and you WILL pay.
we paid for them to sort the sewage already, if they havent done it shouldnt we get our money back
Shameful here to refer to citizens in this context as 'the consumer'.
It's mind boggling this is even a thing.... clean it up yesterday or face jail.... the dividends paid speak for themselves
It's just like when BP apologised for the oil spills.
I am reminded of South Park's parody of that. Very apt.
@@Relugus were sorry..... 😅
As for the privatisation of train companies, the British public is once again victim of the lack of interest from private investors to invest into infrastructures.
Private investors are happy to buy/rent facilities when they are in good working state and profitable.
Once the private investors realised that they have to abide to some costly rules/laws or that they must spend money in the infrastructures, they rely on the tax payer "generosity" to compensate for their avarice.
Let's be clear, the successive British Governments have been unable to curb those kinds of practices. With the Tory in power, this status quo will continue for decades to come.
They must be joking thats like someone taking a dump on your door step and then charging you for cleaning it up.
The Water companies WILL hike prices but once the new infrastructure is paid for in full they will NEVER decrease.
The only way that I can see there could be any chance of sufficient compensation or punishment would be to directly fine and imprison the executives and take back the utilities without compensation to any shareholder. Anything short of that would be a slap on the wrists for an "industry" that caused such widescale ecological devastation while simultaneously extracting wealth from the public to shareholders.
UK government: "If only there was something we could do, but these are private companies."
Government legislation literally allows this. Change the goal posts and Water Companies will play ball.
OFWAT agree the budget.
EA set permits.
Enough of this greed please bring the water companies back into public ownership
Channel 4 news the only outlet dealing with what really matters. Shouldve have to say thank you but THANKS ❤
Absolute outrage, the shareholders and water companies should be the only ones made to pay to fix this.
0 payments made to shareholders and 0 bonuses until they fix this at their own cost.
And the fix should certainly not come from increasing the publics bill.
They should be taken to court and leaders thrown in prison.
They need to cap the amount of profit that private companies can make relative to investment for businesses that provide utilities and services that are needed as part of the national infrastructure. That might not sound attractive to shareholders but the trade off is the fact that they are in an industry where they is essentially none of the risk that most 'normal' businesses have due to the fact that they are essential services.
you mean stop ripping off the customer
@@williammckee6165 I don't think any businesses should rip off their customers but I think if you are going to privatise national infrastructure then there needs to be some regulation on how much profit can be extracted to account for the fact that you essentially have a captive market.
Great business opportunity for corporations like Nestlè! If the "drinking" water becomes sufficiently polluted that no one in their right mind would drink it anymore, they can swoop in and sell you bottled water for 5 pound a bottle. :-)
thank god they dont touch or water in scotland
"Take back control" never meant to hold these investorment company owners to account.
This whole situation is outrageous and regional split privatisation just meant there's too many to hold accountable.
No point taking back control when they have done the damage and the pipe work needs replaced
The 'Privatisation' of the water industry was sold to the public on the basis that private businesses could and would raise capital for modernisation on the financial markets much more easily !1.4 billion in profits very nice indeed!
Can’t we sue them for putting share holders first and not only not doing their job properly but blatantly breaking the law. They are criminals pure and simple and they should be prosecuted
Fine them ,fine them again, and then fine them some more. Expecting more money after failure and still paying out dividends is obscene.
Agree government at its worst
Of course we are outraged.. sick of these huge companies just sucking money out of us and not using it for what it’s meant for. Eventually there will be no competition and no other options.. and that is the plan.
They caused the damage they should foot the bill it’s time to take our power back start saying no
It’s about time the government takes the companies to task instead of letting the make profits for their share holds, it’s complete disgrace
Most important of all those util-co shareholders were kept satisfied. And if the government was running the show there wouldn't need to be stock dividend payments, would there?
I thought we paid to treat the sewage.. if that's not being done WHY AM I PAYING???
Thing is we’ll all pay for it without question. 😂
Speak for yourself
we got no choice. one cannot boycott water. we need to live, unfortunately.
@@stephenwalker2924 No, there is no need for you to live. That's a life choice you may not be able to afford. Affordable water and cheese sandwiches are not a human right.
@@kurtgodel5236 People could drink turnip juice instead....
Greed is far more important than the environment and peoples safety and well being.
What a softball interview
Yeah it was, surprisingly disappointing of Channel 4 on this 😒
So it's private when we are taking profits, but it's public when we need to spend. Got it.
Good old Brexit poop......
The gift is endless
This is just the beginning of the beginning ...
@@kurtgodel5236 oh yeah, there is a stack more in the post for sure....
Dont worry guys !
Profit is private and expenses are public.
Smooth talk, smooth business model 👍
I already am. My water bill has gone up by £5 a month in Wales. No extra usage, in fact less as I live on my own. We shouldn't be paying for it, dividends should. Re-nationalize if they want us to pay for it, otherwise the shareholders have to.
Until they start jailing some of these company directors for breaches of H & E laws then do not expect much to change.
"It's got to be paid for somehow" lol I'm sick of rich people telling me what i "have" to pay for. I'll be honest though, I wouldn't mind paying for water infrastructure if i wasnt paying for a bs war and giving energy and pharma companies insane profits for no good reason. Poor peoples money is being more and more centralised into the hands of the rich.
They should all be ordered to suspend share payouts until they've paid for this themselves.
If the UK was part of EU that would never happen (due to strict regulations and fines). We should let Brexiters drink from that water
Those responsible should be charged with criminal offences like anyone else would.
It is truly repulsive how these companies believe they should gain both the massive profits that they do while also ignoring all the responsibilities. They need to stop pretending to be a public service, and actually pay for their screwups instead of forcing the taxpayer to instead.
If you see Sid, tell him that privatisation has been a complete con.
I was sorry for the crimes that i committed, i still went to prison.
I watched as the river near where I grew up was flooded with sewage and pollution. The fish all died first, then the frogs all left and then all of the grass snakes and larger animals left too. Disgusting how these people have been getting away with these criminal acts.
The get paid to do one job. They didn’t do it for decades. If your hairdresser fucks your hair up you don’t pay extra for them to fix it
NO, THE PUBLIC WILL NOT PAY !!
The water companies do not 'dump' sewage into rivers intentionally. The present infrastructure just can't cope with the huge increase in the population and the pouring of so much concrete over natural soakaways. I used to work in the water industry in the UK (severn trent) and they take any overflow seriously - they've always been fined heavily for every gallon that escapes the wells, tanks and flumes and gets into the river. Tankers are always on standby to drive to any sewage works that is under threat of overflowing due to pump breakdown or electronic telemetry failure. Water always finds the lowest point,which is either the sea or a river. The huge population increase in recent years is not helping and the house building programme over green field sites is going to exacerbate the problem even more. The water companies just can't build sewage works and pump houses fast enough to keep up with demand. There are just not enough hours in the day to install so much extra infrastructure.
Not a single project to futureproof
The only futureproofing was the execs bonuses
Absolute disgrace. Excuses fine them take them to court
Sorry doesn’t keep our environment safe! They need to do more than saying sorry! They should be made to do more. This money needs to come from the CEOs and the bonuses! Not the people.
the only way any of this stops is when we drag them and their lackeys in parliament out of their offices and string them all up for the vultures
Water companies moved from a preventative to reactive maintenance and repair system and just pocketed the cash until it all fell apart. They’ve already been given the money for the job, but they haven’t done it.