It’s easy to see why so many people are calling for the renationalisation of the water industry. After years of corporate greed, environmental negligence, and spiralling customer bills, the idea of bringing water back into public hands is an appealing one. But, as much as I share the anger towards the current system, the financial reality of renationalisation makes it an impractical solution at present.

Simply put, it doesn’t make sense right now for the UK government to take on huge amounts of debt to buy back the water industry. Estimates suggest renationalisation would cost around £90-billion, which, given our total national debt of over £2.7-trillion, would mean increasing our debt by approximately three per cent. That might not sound like much, but even a modest increase in national debt could lead to a rise in interest rates – and if these rose by say 0.3 per cent, which some studies on the relationship between debt levels and borrowing costs suggest, the cost of servicing our national debt could increase by tens of billions a year.

This is the brutal economic truth: even though we’re currently paying large sums to private investors in the water industry, we’d likely end up paying even more if we used government debt to buy it back. Right now, the private sector’s cost of capital is roughly four per cent, similar to the cost of government borrowing anyway. While this won’t always be the case, it means that renationalisation would not automatically result in lower bills or better services.

None of this is to say that privatisation was the right choice in the first place. But given where we are today, we need to ask a more pressing question: how do we hold water companies accountable and clean up our waterways now? That’s why I proudly voted in support of the Water (Special Measures) Bill this week, a piece of legislation that will finally crack down on years of environmental neglect and corporate excess.

For too long, companies like Pennon Group, the owner of South West Water, have dumped sewage into our rivers and seas, while paying out millions in dividends. This bill introduces ground-breaking measures, including the ability to hold water executives criminally liable, ban bonuses for failing CEOs, and force companies to pay for their environmental damage. Regulators will have stronger powers to ensure companies meet their obligations, and real-time monitoring of sewage overflows will give the public more transparency than ever before.

Cornwall’s rivers and coastline are the lifeblood of our community, our economy, and our environment. I love being on the waves and dog walks on the beach. Clean water isn’t just a matter of public health—it underpins our tourism industry, our fishing sector, and our way of life.

Renationalisation might not be the solution to the issues that plague the water sector, but that doesn’t mean we are powerless. With this bill coming into law, we are taking the fight to rogue water companies, and I will keep pushing to ensure Cornwall’s rivers and seas are clean, safe, and protected for generations to come.

Noah Law

Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay