Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds backs campaign to end water privatisation

She was among a group of MPs to join a photo call in parliament with campaign group We Own It, which called for water to be brought into public ownership.

The event yesterday coincided with the launch of We Own It’s People’s Plan for Water – a crowdsourced manifesto that summarises what public ownership could look like and what it could achieve.

Ellen Lees, Campaigns Officer at We Own It, said: "We’re thrilled that so many MPs, including Anneliese Dodds have today affirmed their commitment to publicly owned water.

“For 30 long years, we’ve suffered under the tyranny of Thatcher’s water privatisation, which has led to a 40 per cent real terms increase in bills, CEOs and shareholders pocketing millions, and private water companies polluting our rivers.”

The launch comes in the same week that marked the 30th anniversary of water privatisation in England and Wales, and comes after recent revelations that the CEOs of private water companies have earned £70m in salary, bonuses, and other remuneration in the past six years.

We Own It argues that bringing England’s water companies into public ownership would save £2.3 billion every year. They also claim that this could save people about £100 a year on bills.

The People’s Plan for Water calls for water in the UK to be run in the public sector. Ms Dodds’ backing comes after We Own It organised a series of demonstrations outside water company HQs on Saturday.