Overhaul water industry to save the River Tone

Gideon Amos, MP for Taunton and Wellington, is demanding that Andy Burnham makes the radical overhaul of the water industry one of his first acts as Prime Minister.

It follows new analysis of data revealing the devastating scale of environmental damage in his constituency, where Wessex Water dumped sewage into local waterways for a staggering 4,160 hours last year across 550 separate spills.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the new administration to abandon the failed privatisation model and hand water infrastructure back to the public via a customer-owned mutual model.

Gideon said: “The pollution of our River Tone is a scandal and an insult to local people as well as a scar on our local environment.

“I began campaigning for Bathing Water Status for our river back in 2022 so that water companies will be required to clean it up.

“But the failed water privatisation model from the Conservatives has meant billions going to overseas shareholders and it needs to go completely.

“Andy Burnham has a clear choice – take on the Liberal Democrats' plan to give ownership of our water to customers and the public, or carry on the same dirty business that has sullied our waterways for decades”

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the new Prime Minister to:

• Put water companies into special administration immediately, permanently restructuring each company as a mutual, run for the benefit of its customers
• Transition all existing water companies into public-benefit mutuals, owned by the people rather than the state, ensuring they are run for public health and the environment instead of private profit
• Abolish the toothless regulator Ofwat and replace it with a powerful new Clean Water Authority with statutory powers to enforce strict environmental standards and crack down on repeat offenders
• End the 'Great Sewage Cover-Up' by forcing water companies to report the volume, not just the duration, of sewage spills
• Implement an immediate, legally binding ban on all water company executive bonuses, free from loopholes
• Ensure full accountability by recusing Number 10 advisor James Purnell from any involvement in decisions regarding Thames Water, given his previous work for a firm advising private utilities and major investors.