In 1989, Maggie Thatcher and her Tory government pulled off a total scam. They took the ten public water companies of England and Wales and sold them off to private buyers for £7.6 billion.
To make the deal look good to city fat cats, the government did not just sell the land and pipes. They wiped out all the old debt and handed over £1.5 billion in cash and tax cuts as a “green dowry”. We were told that private money would fix the pipes, build for the future, and run a tight ship.
That was a complete lie. The whole thing has been a total crap show from day one.
Today, our rivers are full of piss and shit, our pipes leak billions of litres of good water every day, and corporate wankers walk away with huge payout cash. Global money firms like BlackRock siphon off big cash cuts while the UK public gets a raw deal.
How is this not a crime? Why are these douchebag bosses not doing time in a cell?
The Numbers: Less Water Per Head While the Public Grows
Look at the raw facts. The numbers do not lie, even if the politicians do.
1989 PRIVATISATION VS. TODAY
UK Population:
1989: 57.1 Million
Now: 69.5 Million (+32.6% / +12.4M people)
New Big Reservoirs Built:
1989 - 2026: 1 (Carsington Reservoir - done in 1992)
Treated Water Lost to Leaks:
~2.6 to 3.3 Billion Litres a Day (About 20% of all water)
In 1989, the UK had 57.1 million people. Today, that number sits at 69.5 million. That is 12.4 million more people using the taps—a huge 32.6% jump.
So, how many new big reservoirs did these private companies build to feed all these extra mouths?
Just one. Carsington Reservoir in Derbyshire, which opened way back in 1992.
For over 30 years, as millions of people moved in, zero new big reservoirs were finished. On a per-head basis, our water setup is worth way less now than it was in 1989. The system is run-down crap.
Instead of fixing the system, these dickhead firms let the old Victorian pipes rot, losing nearly 3 billion litres of clean water to
leaks every single day. That is 20% of all treated water leaking right back into the dirt.
Wall Street at the Tap: How BlackRock Took the Cash
Where did all our bill money go if it did not go into the ground?
It went straight to big overseas funds and corporate bastards.
Look at Severn Trent. A lot of workers own small shares, but the big money is held by giant funds—like BlackRock and the Qatar Investment Authority. Across the UK, BlackRock holds huge stakes in the companies that set your monthly tap bill.
[Your Monthly Bill Cash] ---> [Water Monopoly] ---> [£60Bn Debt Loaded]
|
v
[Massive Dividends Sent Out]
(BlackRock, Foreign Funds, Bankers)
This is not good business; it is asset stripping.
These firms realised they had a captive market—you cannot switch off your water supply. So, they loaded our water network with over £60 billion in debt. They did not use that debt to build new dams or fix leaky mains. They used it to pay out over £72 billion in cash dividends to their own shareholders.
Now the money has run dry and the debt is too high. What happens? Do the investors lose out? No. The regulator, Ofwat, lets them hike up your bills to cover their arse. We pay for their debt while they keep the cash. Hell no.
Panic Plans: 30 Years Too Late
Now that the system is ready to snap, the government is scrambling to fast-track nine new reservoirs by 2050:
- Havant Thicket: Under construction to help 750,000 homes by 2029.
- Fens Reservoir: Fast-tracked for 250,000 homes by 2036.
- Lincolnshire Reservoir: Planned for 500,000 homes by 2040.
- Other Sites: Plans in Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, Sussex, and the West Midlands.
Why did they wait 30 years to do this? Because building a dam costs real money—and every pound spent on concrete is a pound that does not go to BlackRock and private equity twats.
Why Are They Not in Jail?
If a builder takes your cash, does zero work, loads your house with debt, and dumps shit in your garden, you call the police and he goes to court for fraud.
When water bosses dump millions of hours of raw sewage into our streams and strip the network bare, they get multi-million-pound bonuses. What a joke.
The system is rigged. The regulator Ofwat is totally useless. They spent years watching these asshole firms gut a vital public service for profit, and they did sweet bugger all to stop it.
Take It Back: Time to End the Scam
They say we cannot afford to buy back our water. That is total bollocks.
HOW WE FIX THIS CRAP:
1. Stop Dividend Leakage:
Every penny from your bill must go into pipes and dams, not bank pockets.
2. Wipe Out the Greedy Debt:
The funds that took high returns must take the loss. No taxpayer bailouts.
3. Run for People, Not Profit:
Set up local public trusts where clean water comes first.
We do not need to buy back our water at crazy prices while it is loaded with £60bn of bad debt.
We need to force a debt haircut on the reckless funds that took the cash. If investors made bad bets, they take the loss—not the public. Then we turn water back into a non-profit public service run for the people, not for Wall Street douchebags.
Water is life. Letting asset managers like BlackRock turn our taps into a cash machine while our rivers fill with piss is a crime.
It is time to fix this crap once and for all. Take our water back.