this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2025
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UK Politics

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From April 1st, water bills are rising … and so are we

Starmer and Reeves are siding with the private equity firms and hedge funds who own our water.

Together we’ll make the threat of mass, coordinated non-payment credible — and put this failed industry and government out of business.

31% price hike?

We pay ever-higher bills while water firms dump billions of litres of sewage in our rivers and seas – and hand billions of pounds to their shareholders.

But they are reliant on our compliance…

So what if we refuse to pay?

From the Poll Tax to Don’t Pay, refusing to pay en masse is a powerful act.

Right now, private water is vulnerable as the industry strains under a mountain of debt – if we act now, we can force the private profiteers out and take back our water.

Thousands have already joined

Starmer and Reeves are siding with the private equity firms and hedge funds who own our water, so we need many thousands more people to join us.

Through mass non-payment, we can protect each other from bill hikes, push back against greed of water bosses and put an end to this failing industry.

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[–] Greyghoster@aussie.zone 5 points 5 days ago

Privatising public monopolies is always a good idea. Huge profits for the buyers at the public expense.

[–] stsquad@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I don't think it's purely a private thing though. As a country we haven't kept up with investment into our very antiqued infrastructure and it's going to take a lot to fix it.

Here in Wales our water is publicly owned but we are still seeing prices rises because guess what - capital investment has been put off because it's hard and expensive.

[–] theo@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Dŵr Cymru isn't quite publicly owned. It is structured as a not for profit, public benefit company, but still is privately owned.

I believe this is far better than the structure of the English companies, but definately had some failings, probably partly due to having such a large area to cover, but with comparatively fewer people to serve (meaning less revenue).

They are then put in a situation where the UK government expects investment to come in privately, but then the shareholders are more likely to invest in the English companies with returns.

[–] slakemoth@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 5 days ago

Yes austerity is also to blame , this doesn't counter the observation that private companies don't do their due diligence to invest. especially when they have been making profits.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz -4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Why is it water that people are complaining about? Water costs me about as much as a loaf of bread each day. The mortgage costs over 100 loaves of bread a day.

[–] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Because the cost keeps rising while the actual service provided (a human right) keeps getting worse (eg pumping shit into rivers)

Edit: just walked past the local drain that overflows with raw sewage 🥰

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz -3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Wouldn't that be sewage strike then rather than water strike?

[–] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The water company controls both

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz -3 points 5 days ago

Depends where you live it can be completely different companies.

[–] alykanas@slrpnk.net 1 points 5 days ago

Classic Lemmy.