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Editorial calls for temporary state control of Thames Water

The editorial says a cross party parliamentary committee urged placing Thames Water in temporary state control and halting any takeover by its creditors.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Industry

The Guardian Business editorial argues that Thames Water should be placed in temporary state control and not handed back to private ownership after failures affecting its customers.

It points to repeated flooding tied to broken pipes, a “special administration” regime that keeps water service running while shareholders are wiped out and creditors take a haircut, and it cites Thames Water’s debt of £19bn being restructured.

The editorial also says the company has failed its 16 million customers, polluted rivers, paid out billions to shareholders, and repeatedly demanded higher bills, concluding that public ownership could break the cycle it describes.

It says any creditor driven outcome should be stopped following the committee’s recommendation, and frames public funding as inappropriate for another rescue of the water industry financiers.

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