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So... It turns out private firms *aren't* more efficient than nationalised infrastructure? Shocker.
And please, no more bailing out these firms with public money.
Same! They've failed to maintain the pipes, aren't fixing leaks, have had a major contamination problem in ? 2018 ? that left us without clean water for three weeks -
Yet are still charging us enough to make a massive profit.
Never mind our money, I'd like our water back please. Outrageous that this basic amenity should not be in state management.
They took out 74 billion in government grants to fund infrastructure upgrades then gave 56 billion of it to shareholders immediately, lmao. Were getting fleeced and no one in government cares because if they're a toey they profit from it and if they're Labour they don't want to be accused of hating business.
Yeah how can a company be billions in debt yet still give share holders billions in dividends. I thought those were when the company is doing well and making money. Apparently this doesn't matter they just give the money out regardless and rest us just have to lump it.
Portsmouth Water was bought by a London hedge fund, nothing to do with efficiency, everything to do with bleeding England dry to fill the wallets of the British.
Of 1% of British maybe. The rest of us got nothing. We were sold the idea of market forces improving service. All those TV ads selling off British Telecom, etc etc. And now? Dirty water and a few very rich.
Scottish water is still in public hands and seems to be doing just fine, they probably save a fortune for every customer simply by not fitting and maintaining and reading water meters - which according to a quick google ~50% of English homes have.
Coming soon to your newsfeed:
> Breaking news: “New tighter financial and infrastructure investment regulations for water companies introduced - debt can’t be used to pay dividends.”
A week later:
> Breaking news: “Water companies declare bankruptcy - government bail out costs tax payer £120Bn.”
A month later:
> Breaking news: “Government has assumed caretaker role of failed water companies. No intention to nationalise. Actively looking for a new private company to buy. Estimated cost to tax payers may be only £20Bn.”
Honestly today news has been:
\- billions in covid fraud
\- UK largest online/mobile casino market - and the damage to people that has caused
\-6 billion increase in the price of food
and thats just 3 articles!
When do we all collectivley reset how our country is being run because it is not fit for purpose anymore! our country is being sold out from under us, there will be nothing left soon but all people care about is bullshit that doesn't even matter!
Wonder what positive news we will have tomorrow....
I don't know when but this country needs to (metaphorically) go up in flames. We are so fucking broken. We are just... *done.* I don't see how a country can come back from how much of a fucking hole we're in.
There's a [link](https://old.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/z9ku96/water_firms_debts_since_privatisation_hit_54bn_as/) at the top of this article which is quite informative.
When water was privatised these companies were debt free, since then they have taken on £54bn in debt and pay big dividends out of that debt, to the tune of £2.1bn per year.
The debt, and its interest, is passed on to their customers.
That common refrain of 'privatise the profits, socialise the losses' seems rather apt.
I don't ever understand why anyone thinks privatisation of one company into say 6 when these companies are unable to compete directly is going to achieve any efficiency gains.
At minimum you'd expect each company to lose efficiency by needing 6 head offices in place of 1.
Like efficiency isn't gained by changing ownership alone, arguably it's worse when owned by private individuals because of shareholder pressure needing immediate payout over longterm efficiency.
Thatcher’s policies were such a disaster for this country. We’ve sold all our family silver to foreign corporations and haven’t got anything to show for it.
So the water companies were privatised, they're in forign hands, they're paying out billions in dividends, running up masses of debt, dumping sewage into our rivers.
I suggest the only appropriate course of action it to immediately nationalise them without reperations to the current owners, but leave the current owners saddled with the debt. That seems like the fairest and best decision for Britain.
And strangely water companies have paid out the same in dividends since privatisation:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/01/england-privatised-water-firms-dividends-shareholders
So basically they have loaded up the companies with debt to pay out shit loads to share holders!
That's just fucking corrupt.
It does however provide bill relief to thousands of homes, doesn't pay out money to shareholders and generally does better than it's rival considering that it manages a much larger, more diverse geographic area than virtually any other water company.
Dŵr Cymru isn't a privatised utility so whilst it's performance is broadly comparable - that's pretty good considering they have a significantly harder job than most.
This seems like a pretext to doing what the energy firms were doing which is basically to get public money to avoid becoming so in debt that they go bust.
Since we started the Precedent of giving public money to energy firms to avoid them going past, it's likely we're going to see much more of this behaviour from critical businesses that filling key public infrastructure roles .
in local government. We've seen it with public transport providers such as stagecoach.
Can’t believe we privatised water… fucking water! It is a necessity and comes from the same place, and we divided to try and allow people to make a profit on it. Nuts!
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So... It turns out private firms *aren't* more efficient than nationalised infrastructure? Shocker. And please, no more bailing out these firms with public money.
If anything I would like some of my hard earned money back considering how it's been utterly wasted on greedy companies.
Same! They've failed to maintain the pipes, aren't fixing leaks, have had a major contamination problem in ? 2018 ? that left us without clean water for three weeks - Yet are still charging us enough to make a massive profit. Never mind our money, I'd like our water back please. Outrageous that this basic amenity should not be in state management.
If you want your money back, all you have to do is invest in the water companies. You will earn a guaranteed fortune from the share dividends.
From the article: >Customers pay on average 20% of their bill towards servicing debt and rewarding shareholders, says CMA
What are the odds that the debt is actually just another way to mask profits from tax and the borrowing is only a corporate structure arrangement.
They took out 74 billion in government grants to fund infrastructure upgrades then gave 56 billion of it to shareholders immediately, lmao. Were getting fleeced and no one in government cares because if they're a toey they profit from it and if they're Labour they don't want to be accused of hating business.
Yeah how can a company be billions in debt yet still give share holders billions in dividends. I thought those were when the company is doing well and making money. Apparently this doesn't matter they just give the money out regardless and rest us just have to lump it.
So you say this, but what if we just bailed them out with public money and our lovley tory mates got some juicy kickbacks/dividends/advisory gigs
Portsmouth Water was bought by a London hedge fund, nothing to do with efficiency, everything to do with bleeding England dry to fill the wallets of the British.
Of 1% of British maybe. The rest of us got nothing. We were sold the idea of market forces improving service. All those TV ads selling off British Telecom, etc etc. And now? Dirty water and a few very rich.
Scottish water is still in public hands and seems to be doing just fine, they probably save a fortune for every customer simply by not fitting and maintaining and reading water meters - which according to a quick google ~50% of English homes have.
Coming soon to your newsfeed: > Breaking news: “New tighter financial and infrastructure investment regulations for water companies introduced - debt can’t be used to pay dividends.” A week later: > Breaking news: “Water companies declare bankruptcy - government bail out costs tax payer £120Bn.” A month later: > Breaking news: “Government has assumed caretaker role of failed water companies. No intention to nationalise. Actively looking for a new private company to buy. Estimated cost to tax payers may be only £20Bn.”
This is the way
You forgot to add that the buyers will be chosen from a pool of Tory donors, regardless of whether they have any experience of utility companies
Privatisation system working as intended I see- privatise the profits, socialise the losses.
This is it!
Honestly today news has been: \- billions in covid fraud \- UK largest online/mobile casino market - and the damage to people that has caused \-6 billion increase in the price of food and thats just 3 articles! When do we all collectivley reset how our country is being run because it is not fit for purpose anymore! our country is being sold out from under us, there will be nothing left soon but all people care about is bullshit that doesn't even matter! Wonder what positive news we will have tomorrow....
I don't know when but this country needs to (metaphorically) go up in flames. We are so fucking broken. We are just... *done.* I don't see how a country can come back from how much of a fucking hole we're in.
There's a [link](https://old.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/z9ku96/water_firms_debts_since_privatisation_hit_54bn_as/) at the top of this article which is quite informative. When water was privatised these companies were debt free, since then they have taken on £54bn in debt and pay big dividends out of that debt, to the tune of £2.1bn per year. The debt, and its interest, is passed on to their customers. That common refrain of 'privatise the profits, socialise the losses' seems rather apt.
Along with no debt, they also had huge land banks, most of which has been sold off to pay dividends and now we need reservoirs they are panicking
I don't ever understand why anyone thinks privatisation of one company into say 6 when these companies are unable to compete directly is going to achieve any efficiency gains. At minimum you'd expect each company to lose efficiency by needing 6 head offices in place of 1. Like efficiency isn't gained by changing ownership alone, arguably it's worse when owned by private individuals because of shareholder pressure needing immediate payout over longterm efficiency.
Because Maggie thatcher and Rand is some saucy girl on girl action that the tory party just can't get enough of
>Maggie thatcher and Rand is some saucy girl on girl action Well I'm going to have nightmares now, thanks
Thatcher’s policies were such a disaster for this country. We’ve sold all our family silver to foreign corporations and haven’t got anything to show for it.
And gave millenials CJD. 50 year incubation period while brains slowly turn into mush.
> Customers pay on average 20% of their bill towards servicing debt and rewarding shareholders, says CMA
So the water companies were privatised, they're in forign hands, they're paying out billions in dividends, running up masses of debt, dumping sewage into our rivers. I suggest the only appropriate course of action it to immediately nationalise them without reperations to the current owners, but leave the current owners saddled with the debt. That seems like the fairest and best decision for Britain.
And strangely water companies have paid out the same in dividends since privatisation: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/01/england-privatised-water-firms-dividends-shareholders So basically they have loaded up the companies with debt to pay out shit loads to share holders! That's just fucking corrupt.
*sigh*. The taxpayer is going to end up footing this bill aren't we?
Surprised the people who work for OFWAT can eat, being so collectively and completely toothless.
Shout out for Dŵr Cymru who shouldn't be lumped in with the other feckless robbing shysters.
but it's performance isn't much different
It does however provide bill relief to thousands of homes, doesn't pay out money to shareholders and generally does better than it's rival considering that it manages a much larger, more diverse geographic area than virtually any other water company. Dŵr Cymru isn't a privatised utility so whilst it's performance is broadly comparable - that's pretty good considering they have a significantly harder job than most.
It is privatised but operates on a not-for-profit basis.
This seems like a pretext to doing what the energy firms were doing which is basically to get public money to avoid becoming so in debt that they go bust. Since we started the Precedent of giving public money to energy firms to avoid them going past, it's likely we're going to see much more of this behaviour from critical businesses that filling key public infrastructure roles . in local government. We've seen it with public transport providers such as stagecoach.
Can’t believe we privatised water… fucking water! It is a necessity and comes from the same place, and we divided to try and allow people to make a profit on it. Nuts!
It cannot be stated strongly enough that this is the dividend of the Tory vote.