Poll finds majority want to prosecute polluters
Nobody really wants to swim through sewage so the result of a new poll is not a big surprise. But the huge majority of 83% in favour of legal action against polluting water companies shows the power of public feeling.
More than 8 in 10 Britons support the setting of legally binding targets to reduce the amount of sewage spilled into waterways according to the latest Ipsos poll for the Financial Times.
More and more people are realising the scale of the of the sewage scandal, of how the privatised water companies looted the water industry, sinking the water companies under huge debts, paying out vast dividends while allowing vital infrastructure to collapse. In 2023 there were 464,056 sewage spills , according to the Environment Agency, a 54% increase on the previous year.
Since the industry was privatised in thre Tory fire sale of public assets more than 30 years ago investors have withdrawn £85.2bn from 10 water and sewage firms in England and Wales, analysis by the University of Greenwich suggests. That is £85.2 that has gone into investors ‘pockets’ rather being invested in the water industry we all depend on.
Public services owned by the public for the public
The Green Party is the only party to pledge to return the water industry to public ownership. as Green Party candidate Steve Roberts put it, “Privatisation has failed. Dividends are paid to shareholders while infrastructure is run into the ground, we all know how privatisation of the water companies worked out. The Green Party is committed to the public ownership of public services, so they are run to serve us all, rather than to increase the wealth of shareholders.”