OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This from Maggie Nelmes, Ventnor. Ed
Are you sick of hearing about water leaks and sewage pollution of our rivers and seas, while our bills keep rising by many times more than the rate of inflation, and greedy directors and shareholders rake in the water companies’ so-called ‘profits’?
‘A monopoly with us over a barrel’
All of this surplus now needs to be channeled into their failing infrastructure because they have neglected it for so long that it is rusting away.
Opinion polls show that 82 per cent of people are now, like me, calling for water nationalisation. The privatized model simply does not work. The companies are dysfunctional, with spiraling debts from reckless borrowing. Yet they expect taxpayers to bail them out. As they have a monopoly, and we cannot survive without water, they have us over a barrel.
Successive governments have failed to protect us from the consequences of the water companies’ irresponsible actions.
Parliament forced into action
More than 160,000 people have signed a petition demanding a referendum on the public ownership of water, and this has forced a debate in parliament.
I have just emailed my MP to ask him to attend the debate. Will you write to yours?
- Date: Monday 14th September 2026
- Time: 4:30pm
- Location: Westminster Hall
This debate is a rare opportunity for Parliament to have a serious and constructive discussion about the future of our water system. It is high time.
The case for change
The case for change is overwhelming:
- In 2024, sewage was discharged into our rivers for more than 3.6 million hours. Over 80% of all sewage spills into England’s waterways in the last two years may have been illegal.
- Every single water company in England is now under investigation for sewage spills.
- Meanwhile, since privatisation, £85 billion has been siphoned off in dividends.
- Almost a third of our water bills goes not into fixing pipes or protecting rivers, but into servicing debt and paying shareholders.
Evidence from the People’s Commission on the Water Sector shows that public ownership can deliver cleaner, fairer and cheaper water.
How to have your say
Please email your MP now to ask them to attend the debate in parliament on 14th September 2026.
