Labour would oppose renationalising Thames Water. The utility company is in trouble and has a very uncertain future.
Jonathan Reynolds, shadow secretary for business and trade, said that “people shouldn’t expect the government to bail out bad investments”. The comments were made just days before the next general election on Thursday.
Reynolds stated in a Bloomberg European HQ debate with Kemi BADENOCH, the Business and Trade Secretary, that “I would not want to see nationalization.” I believe there should be an alternative to nationalisation. He added that Labour would be “sensitive”.
Jonathan Reynolds, shadow business secretary, suggested that there should be a different solution for Thames Water
Labour is likely to determine the future of Thames Water, and the regulation of monopolies in other industries. The party continues to lead the polls ahead of the election.
Thames is in a state of existential crisis, as it struggles to pay its debts. The industry has also been plagued by performance issues, such as sewage spills, and outages.
Ofwat has delayed its important interim decision on the amount that companies can charge to their customers for the next five years. This will determine how much investment Thames can get from existing and new shareholders in order to try and turn things around.
Badenoch stated that it was an “obviously very, very challenging situation”. “I do not want to talk about nationalisation when the business is experiencing these kinds of difficulties.”
Kemi Badenoch acknowledged that the utility had a difficult situation and was waiting for a decision from Ofwat (the regulatory body) on water bills
She stressed that it is important for the regulatory system to allow companies to “make a profit, keep their bills low, and continue to invest in infrastructure where we’ve seen problems”.
The debate was dominated by a few hot topics, including the future of Thames Water, a possible London listing for Shein, a Chinese fast fashion company, foreign direct investments in the UK, and Labour’s reforms to workers rights, and trade. Reynolds and government officials have met c in recent months, who has filed confidential paperwork to list on the London Stock Exchange. Labour said London would have higher regulatory standards for the company.
Badenoch and Reynolds were asked questions by the five major business lobby groups: the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), Make UK, a trade association for the manufacturing sector, Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Institute of Directors and Federation of Small Businesses. Audience members included representatives of companies such as Goldman Sachs the American investment bank and Deutsche Bank. Also in attendance were the London Stock Exchange, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and the London Stock Exchange.
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