Green Party deputy leader calls for nationalising South East Water and Thames Water without compensation
Rachel Millward told the Green Party's Brighton conference that insolvent water companies should not be compensated if taken into public ownership.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
The Green Party's deputy leader, Rachel Millward, has called for South East Water and Thames Water to be brought into national ownership without compensation for shareholders or creditors, telling the party's conference in Brighton that the companies are effectively insolvent.
"Forget compensation for shareholders and creditors, these are insolvent companies," Millward told delegates, arguing for a national takeover of the two water companies.
She criticised the approach taken by other political figures to the water sector, saying plans involving "gentle threats and vague notions of control" were insufficient to address the industry's problems.
Millward pointed to supply problems in her own region, saying residents in Sussex have at times had to collect bottled water because of issues with tap water supply, and argued that no major reservoir has been built in the country since the water industry was privatised 35 years ago.
She also referenced the discharge of sewage into rivers by private water companies, framing the broader privatisation of water as a mistake, and describing water as an essential resource that should not have been sold off.
The comments came as part of the Green Party's annual conference, where water sector policy featured among the topics discussed by delegates.
Sources
- Greens would nationalise SE Water and Thames Water without paying compensation, says deputy leader – UK politics live — The Guardian — World
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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