Post #4324658

2026-08-01 20:59 UTC

Proper water management. Shocks me that it sounds too good; everything written here is rather sensible and down to earth: "Labour MP Helena Dollimore said Burnham should “end the era of extraction” in the water industry" Turning failed companies into cooperatives: "Companies that come out of a SAR [special administration regime] would be required to do so as not-for-profit cooperatives, rather than being sold to the highest bidder" "Coppard said: “Water is an essential utility that simply should not be farmed out to the private sector – that’s a lesson we’ve learned the hard way. A cooperative model would put control back in the hands of people, help keep bills as low as possible, and allow us to finally intervene in the inexorable dumping of sewage in our rivers.”" A politician talking sense? That's news in the UK! https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/01/turn-failing-water-firms-into-not-for-profit-cooperatives-mps-and-mayors-tell-pm #UK

Replies (1)

@david_chisnall@infosec.exchange 2026-08-02 08:34

@albertcardona@mathstodon.xyz That sounds good, but there are two important steps along the way: Default on all loans.Wipe out shares. These are important for avoiding similar cases in the future. Thames Water borrowed money from banks and, instead of using that money to fix infrastructure, used it to pay dividends. People bough shares because there was an expected return. More importantly, banks issued loans to a company that had no way of repaying them because they knew the government would bail them out. The banks need to be sent a strong signal that, if you lend to a privatised utility, you will not get a bailout if that utility doesn’t invest the money in improving their infrastructure. Do that, and no other water company will be able to secure any additional loans and banks will start getting nervous about repayment of outstanding ones. And you can the nationalise or cooperativise (is that a word?) them without great expense.

Open ##4324653