Last week, as the British people headed to the polls to vote in a snap election, reclaiming
water management became a major issue in the British elections. Mainstream economists writing for the Financial Times (FT), Chris Piles and Gill Plimmer (“Nationalisation returns to centre of political debate”, Financial Times, 17 May), show the same old categorical errors in comparing the merits of public and private water utilities.
The Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) has published a briefing to counter those arguments. From 2007 to 2016, the nine regional water and sewerage companies in England have paid over £18 billion in shareholder dividends, producing an upward pressure on pricing and causing an alarming increase in water poverty. No wonder the British public are worried about the issue.
As part of the debate, the Guardian published two letters. One from Dr Emanuele Lobina at PSIRU setting out the arguments for public ownership, the other from the CEO of a private water provider, unsurprisingly defending privatisation. Also the independent published a piece by a political figure
We encourage you to share and spread these pieces in the light of the elections. Right2Water website
We also would like to thank you for the incredible support that we received to put pressure on the Spanish government to withdraw the additional disposition number 27 that would have been a huge burden on the remunicipalisation process. We received feedback from unions and activists from across the planet, from the US to Australia! We are very proud that the effort worked and the government withdrew the proposal as reported by the economic Spanish press
Again thanks for your support for public water and the human right to water!
Pablo SÁNCHEZ CENTELLAS
Communications & Campaigns Officer. Liaison with the EP & Youth
EUROPEAN
FEDERATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE UNIONS
