Greens pledge to nationalise water: how the plan differs from Labour's
Green Party co-deputy leader Rachel Millward has said her party would nationalise water companies in England and Wales.
Millward set out the commitment in interviews with local BBC radio stations across England ahead of the Green Party conference. She is expected to address nationalisation and how to pay for it in a speech at the conference in Brighton BBC.
Millward told the BBC the water system was an "absolutely unmitigated disaster". She said there had been "radical underinvestment" over decades.
She described Prime Minister Andy Burnham's plans to bring water companies under public control as "vague". She said public control is not enough.
Ministers said Mr Burnham's plan would remove limits on government ownership of shares in water companies and give mayors, the directly elected leaders of large urban areas, more powers to scrutinise them BBC. For readers new to the detail, the difference is between holding a bigger stake with stronger local checks and owning the pipes, reservoirs and works outright. Millward placed the Greens on the second side of that line.
The Greens said water companies cannot by law be shut down. Their plan would seize the assets and leave the companies as empty shell accounts, firms that exist on paper but hold nothing.
The policy applies to England and Wales. Water is devolved, so it is decided separately in each UK nation, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate arrangements.
The question to watch is cost. In its 2024 manifesto, the Green Party of England and Wales estimated that nationalising water companies and the five biggest retail energy firms would cost £30bn over the five years of a parliament. The UK government estimated last year that nationalising the water industry alone would cost about £100bn BBC.
Looking ahead to Brighton, that gap will face close questioning. The Greens will be pressed on valuation methodology, on how assets are priced, compensation, debt treatment and the timetable for transfer. Ministers will be pressed on whether their own figure assumes a full market-value buyout at current prices.
No decision has been announced on Thames Water, which faces a severe financial crisis. The government is considering nationalising the company as one option. The broader choice for ministers is between company-specific intervention and sector-wide restructuring.
The broader context here is electoral positioning as well as utilities policy. The Greens arrived in Brighton with a parliamentary by-election and mayoral contests in the background. Zack Polanski was selected as the Green candidate for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, a vote to fill a vacant Commons seat, chosen by local members in Camden with the candidacy announced at Kings Place in King's Cross. Polanski later launched the party's fundraiser for local elections scheduled for 7 May. Geraldine Coggins is the Green candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor, with that election scheduled for 30 July. Coggins announced a 10-year plan for 20,000 genuinely affordable homes in Greater Manchester, centred on a new publicly owned provider called Homes for Greater Manchester.
Looking at what this means for Westminster, water gives both Labour and the Greens a public-ownership offer with very different fiscal and legal implications. Mr Burnham offers incremental state participation and local accountability. Millward offers full transfer. Voters in England and Wales pay the bills and live with pollution and supply failures. They will judge the two models on credibility, cost and speed of improvement.
What to watch for in Brighton is the funding question. A headline pledge to nationalise is straightforward. A funded route to do it is harder. Expect detailed questioning on the £30bn figure, on whether it still holds, and on how the Greens would legislate for asset seizure while leaving corporate shells in place.
