Bill rises mean tide of fury on utilities is higher than ever

TENS of thousands of people took to the streets of London last November to March for Clean Water, in the biggest peaceful protest this country has ever seen.

- James Wallace

After decades of neglect, mismanagement and profiteering by water companies, the public has had enough.

Yet today, instead of genuine reform, we're being gaslit by the water industry as it announces huge bill rises.

We're meant to celebrate "record investment" as if it's some great act of corporate generosity.

But this is further profiteering - paid for by us.

For 15 years, the nation's environmental regulators have been defunded by at least 70%, stripping them of the resources needed to enforce the law. Even the new Government has already made 1.8% real-terms cuts to the Department for Environment, with more likely to come in the spring Spending Review.

This weakening of oversight has allowed polluters to operate with impunity. Water giants have taken full advantage, prioritising dividends, high creditor interest rates and executive pay over infrastructure - all while treating our rivers, lakes, and seas as open sewers.

When fines do come, they're pocket change in comparison to the billions extracted in profits and towering piles of junk debt.

The "stick" simply isn't big enough to force these firms to change their business practices.