Since its privatisation in 1989, our waterways have been left in an deplorable state. Compass – an organisation for increased equality, sustainability, and democracy – has been pushing for public ownership of water. Clive Lewis, an MP and member of Compass, spoke at a webinar about the campaign’s progress and how half-measures cannot be accepted. Water belongs to all of us, and should not be left in the hands.
Sewage in our rivers and lakes
Our rivers and lakes are in a terrible state. A report published last year suggested that as many as 75% of our rivers are in what was described “poor ecological health”, while the BBC reported that sewage has been illegally dumped into Lake Windermere since 2021.
Consequently, there have been many calls for the failing water companies to be brought back under public ownership. These calls have been made all the louder as the privatised water companies have continued to post record profits for their shareholders to benefit from, while customers and the general public suffer.
Compass
Compass describes itself as “a home for those who want to be a part of and indeed help to build a Good Society; one where equality, sustainability and democracy are not mere aspirations, but a living reality.” They say that they are founded “on the belief that no single issue, organisation or political party can make a Good Society a reality by themselves, so we have to work together to make it happen. Compass is a place where people come together to create the visions, alliances and actions to be the change we wish to see in the world.”
Our water our way: public ownership of water
As part of its cross-party work for a better society, Compass has been campaigning for water to be brought back into public ownership.
They argue that the people of Britain know that when our water system was privatised it was also broken. Further to that, Compass maintains that “passing an essential of life that is a natural monopoly into private and profit maximising hands was always going to lead to disaster.”
Compass also states that “[their] desire for an economy that works for everyone, [to hand] genuine power back to communities through democratic reforms, and the need for real sustainability” does have a solution, and that is greater public ownership. And this must include the public ownership of our basic commodity – water.
Compass has also noted that next year will be a crucial one for their water campaign. On Thursday 4 December, Clive Lewis MP gave his audience a campaign update in a Compass webinar I was able to join.
Clive Lewis and the Compass campaign
Clive Lewis MP took us through where we are regarding getting the water industry back into public hands, and the way that the campaign has gone from strength to strength, saying all power to those involved, including all the other great campaign groups out there.
Clive was clear that those campaigning for water to be brought back into public ownership have won the argument, and that the campaigns and pressure, not to mention the disastrous records of the water companies themselves, have done more to make the public understand that private ownership is a broken system and tweaking it won’t work. He was also adamant that opportunities will come for the campaign to fulfil its potential and for water to be returned to public ownership.
Clive claimed that a new water bill is going to be introduced in an attempt to diffuse some of the pressure, with a Welsh model leading to some kind of law whereby water companies will have a caveat about public duty, but that it will be nothing more than an attempt to fob us off. Although we may get something that looks radical, it is really about private water companies and others with vested interests keeping water in private hands, which is unacceptable.
A representative of Compass added that they are looking at options as to how to respond to the recent White Paper, but don’t want to engage in anything that doesn’t change the governance structures and lay the foundations for when future opportunities come along. There is no interest in half measures when it comes to reforming and improving the governance of our water systems.
A real issue
Amidst all the noise and fury around the culture wars, as well as the racism within the blitz of news about small boats and immigration, for once there is a discussion about a real issue, which affects everyone, and which was not coloured by racism and other prejudices.
It was sadly coloured by the stain of sewage in our rivers and lakes, but for all that it was refreshing to hear a politician talking about something as basic and important as our water supply and how we can get clean water at a reasonable cost.
It is absolutely clear that our water system was broken when it was privatised by Thatcher in 1989, and it is long past time that this deplorable situation was put right. As with so many other areas of our public life, simply tweaking the system, while keeping water in private hands, will not be sufficient to put things right.
We should not accept our government attempting anything other than real public ownership.
