Peter Wild

ALT Dear Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Secretary of State Steve Reed, Saturday marked 35 years since the Water Act 1989 established our current model of water and sewage management, including privatisation and top-down regulation. The system has clearly failed. Bills have risen at twice the rate of inflation. No new drinking reservoirs have been delivered. A quarter of our supply leaks out of our pipes. Debts are unpaid; plans ‘uninvestable.’ And last year, operators released sewage for over 3 million hours into our rivers and seas. Your election offers a chance to set things right. But if the current failed model remains in place, Labour could be fighting the next election with some bills topping £915 a year and sewage a greater threat to our health than ever. In just four days, Ofwat will sign off draft plans from the water and sewage companies, including their investment plans and proposals for a further 26% real increase.

ALT Please, immediately begin a root-and-branch review of water ownership and regulation and pause the failed Ofwat price setting process until an indicative decision is made in your first 100 days. Yours sincerely, Stephen Fry Joe Lycett Michael Rosen Nish Kumar Samuel West Rosie Holt Dr Doug Parr, Policy Director, Greenpeace UK James Wallace, Chief Executive, River Action UK Mark Lloyd, CEO, The Rivers Trust Dani Jordan, Director of Campaigns and Communities, Surfers Against Sewage Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director, Oceana UK Cat Hobbs, Director, We Own It Ed Acteson, Co-Founder, SOS Whitstable Ash Smith, Co-Founder, Windrush Against Sewage Pollution Prof. Becky Malby, Campaigner, Ilkley Clean River Campaign Deborah Meara, Campaigner, Save Our Swale Katy Colley, Co-Founder, Boycott Water Bills Dr Felicity Laurence, Co-Founder, Hastings Boycotts Southern Water Chris Dady, Chair, Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (Norfolk) Paul Steedman, Director, CPRE Sussex