Thank you everyone who put Oxfordshire first on Thames Water

Human beings are 70 per cent water. Does that mean 70 per cent of us belongs to Thames Water?

When we’re six feet under, will Thames Water have as much of a claim to our livelihoods as it does to our bodies?

Will it inherit 70 per cent of our assets, 70 per cent of our money and will its CEO - Chris Weston - be invited to our funeral?

Of course not.

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But that is the strength of feeling felt by some people on the issue of public vs private ownership.

Debates over the water company responsible for overseeing provision of Oxfordshire’s utilities have intensified over the last few weeks.

Sewage outfall at Cassington STW. (Image: Windrush Against Sewage Pollution)

Liberal Democrats have been persistent in their criticism of sewage dumping in rivers – but despite arguably being the most vocal party on this issue, they are not calling for the company to be brought into public ownership.

The Labour group in Oxford bucked the trend in relation to their party’s national position. They would like to see the company brought into special administration and re-nationalised – a position which differs to that of their national leader’s.

Though, it is worth noting we did not receive comment from the two Labour MPs in Oxfordshire with their thoughts on the issue.

Even some Conservatives do not appear to have espoused a view consistent with their national leadership.

This is almost as refreshing as the water they dream about.

It is commendable that local politicians in Oxfordshire appear to be concerned with issues in their area rather than following a staunch national party line.

Conservative Nick Field-Johnson has been a good example in this regard. He has stood up for rural areas in the county and his constituents.

Nick Field-Johnson. (Image: Oxfordshire County Council.)

Liberal Democrat group leader in Oxford Dr Chris Smowton said “I honestly don’t know” when asked why he thought Oxford Labour voted against the position of its party nationally.

He said he could understand why the local Greens wanted nationalisation but wasn’t too sure about Labour’s motivations.

Whatever they are, well done everyone for sticking up for people in Oxfordshire.

The question of nationalisation will probably be one that rages on for decades.

Many people feel that something as fundamental and essential to our planet as water should not be packaged up in bottles by private corporations or gatekept by companies who want to charge people for running it through their taps.

But if Thames Water doesn’t own 70 per cent of our bodies then what is the alternative – should it be the state?

Thames Water. (Image: Other.)

That is why principled approaches to public ownership of water courses are laudable but those with ideological fantasies ought to be wary of presenting some vision of state ownership as somehow a magical solution to all our problems.

It may still entail the same bureaucracy, the same monopoly and the same monolithic approach. Unless we have anarchy or a drastic reduction in the size of government it is not clear we will ever have water services owned by the people in any meaningful way.

In the meantime – thank you all those politicians who have put the people of Oxfordshire first, regardless of their political views.

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About the author

Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county. 

She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.

Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi