Rise in sewage pollution from Thames Water’s ageing treatment works Incidents from sites and pipe network increased by 19 last year to 350 amid delays in investment, company says The Guardian - UK · Jul 9, 2024
Thames Water pays out £158m to shareholders despite £15bn debt and sewage leak failings Thames Water says it has cash to last until May 2025 and if it fails to find investment, Sir Keir Starmer will face a decision on measures that would effectively see it nationalised The Independent UK · Jul 9, 2024
Thames Water to tap investors for funds as it will run out of cash by next June Company is laden with £15.2bn of debt, up £1.3bn on the previous year, most of which could be added to the public purse The Guardian - UK · Jul 9, 2024
Poor state of Thames Water a ‘critical risk’ to UK, Starmer and Reeves told Exclusive: Whitehall warns firm’s deteriorating infrastructure and £15.6bn debt pose urgent problem The Guardian - UK · Jul 8, 2024
Keir Starmer urged to act on water bill rises in England and Wales Stephen Fry and other celebrities join unions and activists in calling on PM to launch review of water ownership The Guardian - UK · Jul 8, 2024
The six most urgent problems facing the UK that Starmer’s new government needs to fix Keir Starmer’s Labour party has won the UK general election in a landslide. Its huge majority should, in theory, give Starmer the clout to see through most of his political agenda. But in reality, the victory celebrations might prove short-lived, given the size of the challenges in front of him. The Conversation · Jul 5, 2024
Renationalising water could fix sewage crisis – but no major party will do it Privatised water companies discharged raw sewage into rivers and the sea around England and Wales for 3.6 million hours in 2023 – double the previous year’s total. For a sense of how bad the problem is today, check this map of the south-east of the UK which shows how much… The Conversation · Jul 2, 2024
Thames Water accused of ‘chicanery’ over £150m dividend payment Debt-laden utility urged to show greater transparency as it faces investigation by industry regulator Ofwat The Guardian - UK · Jul 1, 2024
Will rising debt cause Thames Water to sink under a Labour government? The crisis-hit utilities company could quickly spoil the post-election mood for whichever party wins next week The Guardian - UK · Jun 29, 2024
Thames Water board approved £150m payout hours before funding U-turn Exclusive: Ofwat to investigate circumstances around payment of dividend to intermediate parent company The Guardian - UK · Jun 28, 2024
Bather, beware: British beaches and rivers have a sewage problem. It has seeped into election talk Britain has become notorious as a place where a casual swim could lead to an extended visit to the toilet, if not the hospital The Independent UK · Jun 21, 2024
Thames Water among six water firms sued for up to £1.5bn by billpayers over sewage discharges Lawsuit could see payout against Thames Water of £159.1m if successful Evening Standard · Jun 12, 2024
Can Labour clean up England’s dangerously dirty water? Party has vowed to end sewage scandal if it wins power, but experts say it will have to act quickly and ambitiously The Guardian - UK · Jun 12, 2024
General election TV Q&A: Sunak refuses to accept tax burden will definitely rise during next parliament – as it happened This blog is now closed The Guardian - UK · Jun 12, 2024
The Guardian - UK · Jun 11, 2024 Severn Trent boss paid £3.2m despite firm’s fine for sewage spills in river Liv Garfield’s pay included a £584,000 bonus despite firm’s £2m fine for spilling 260m litres of sewage into River Trent
Evening Standard · May 30, 2024 Sewage released into London's waterways for 12,000 hours in last year, City Hall finds The figure is four times of that of the previous year, the mayor’s office has said
The Independent UK · May 30, 2024 Sewage pumped into river in picturesque Chilterns village for five consecutive days Exclusive: Sewage discharged into brook feeding Ouzel river on the edge of Chiltern Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The Guardian - UK · May 29, 2024 Ofwat considers cutting sewage fines for financially struggling water firms Regulator understood to be looking at ‘recovery regime’ for Thames Water and others in sector
Evening Standard · May 29, 2024 Water firm sewage polluters 'will face criminal charges' under Labour government Labour has pledged to put water firms under special measures and prosecute bosses if they continue to oversee the illegal dumping of ‘toxic filth’
The Guardian - UK · May 29, 2024 BHP walks away from £39bn pursuit of Anglo American; Royal Mail agrees to £3.57bn takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský – as it happened Royal Mail’s parent company IDS agrees takeover offer but BHP’s pursuit of Anglo fails
The Independent UK · May 28, 2024 Ed Davey falls into Lake Windermere as he reveals Lib Dem plan to fix sewage crisis Liberal Democrats want to abolish Ofwat and ban bonuses for water company chief executives
The Independent UK · May 28, 2024 Water watchdog to refuse suppliers’ requests to increase prices Thames Water requested a bill increase of up to 59 per cent as it faces £15billion of debt, according to reports
The Guardian - UK · May 28, 2024 Tuesday briefing: ‘There are massacres everywhere’: what has happened since Rafah was struck? In today’s newsletter: World leaders condemn strike on refugee camp that killed at least 45 people. Who were the victims and how will the conflict unfold from here?
The Guardian - UK · May 28, 2024 Ofwat poised to refuse most suppliers’ requests for big price rises Water watchdog decision on bills in England and Wales delayed until after election, as Thames crisis looms
The Guardian - UK · May 23, 2024 Forget Thames Water, National Grid has proved investors will still back UK assets The infrastructure company easily raised almost £7bn in a rights issue – because it has its balance sheet in order and plans to invest