Water is not a commodity – it is a right. 

This is not merely a political slogan, but an internationally recognised human right according to the UN General Assembly (2010).

Since 1990, British water companies such as Yorkshire Water have paid £74 billion to shareholders while accumulating £69 billion in debt. 

In 2024, 565,383 sewage spills were recorded across England and Wales. Despite promises to turn things around, serious pollution incidents increased by 60% last year. 

It is therefore clear that private water companies are economically unsustainable and are failing to provide a functional service to the public.

The experiment that has been the privatisation of water has failed. We were promised a more efficient service, yet we now witness consistently inadequate performance and abhorrent standards. As the only nation in the world whose water industry is entirely privatised, we must now demand alternative ownership models. 

Since the start of this year, I have been working as your MP to call for change, meeting with Yorkshire Water themselves and speaking in the chamber on this key issue. I am committed to upholding this resolve. Now is the time for decisive and bold action. 

We must treat water as the public good that it is, not a commodity traded and bartered for at the expense of the public. I am therefore working to bring the water industry back into public ownership, setting it not as a tool for profit but for the provision of essential utilities.