Rachel Millward, deputy leader of the Green Party, has described the water system as "a disaster" and said her party would nationalise water companies to reverse years of what she called "radical underinvestment."
Nationalisation, Millward said, would transfer ownership and control of water providers from private hands to the public sector. She presented the measure as aimed at addressing long-term funding shortfalls and improving the condition of infrastructure that she argued has been neglected under the current model.
Her remarks come amid an ongoing public and political debate about the operation and oversight of water services in the UK, where private companies have been the dominant providers for decades. The Green Party has previously advocated greater public control of utilities as part of its broader platform on environmental protection and public services.
It is not yet clear how the party proposes to fund, legislate for or implement a large-scale transfer of assets to public ownership, or how quickly such changes could be carried out. Millward did not set out a detailed timetable in her comments, and the proposal would face legal, financial and political hurdles if taken forward.
Supporters of nationalisation argue public ownership could prioritise long-term investment and environmental management over shareholder returns, while opponents warn of high upfront costs and the complexities of reorganising a major sector. Millward said the urgency of reversing what she described as decades of underinvestment justified pursuing nationalisation as a solution.