HGourlayUCL1d ago
Simon Phipps

Here's a petition I broadly support, with caveats. It calls for a referendum on bringing the UK water industry into public ownership.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/762640

Caveats:
* Not a fan of plebiscites. Parliament should Just Do It. But needs must.
* "Public ownership" needs nuance. Natural monopolies should be run by non-profits (TfL is an examplar; CICs are great) under public oversight. Infrastructure should be leased to them by the state, not owned.

#UKPol #Water #Petition

Petition: Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership

Hold a binding national referendum on whether the water industry should be returned to public ownership. Water is a basic human necessity; we believe our privatised system has failed, so the public should decide who owns and controls it.

Petitions - UK Government and Parliament
Apr 8 at 8:51amWeb
Show threadSimon Johnson1d ago

@webmink thanks

What a shame they’re just calling for re-nationalisation. While better than nothing, I agree community ownership models, of which I believe there are plenty of international examples, would be far preferable to monolithic state monopolies but also signed with 🤞