The sighs of the General Election result

Labour’s defeat in last week's General Election may have been more to do with Brexit policy and an unpopular leader, but the result also swept away the prospect of re-nationalisation. For that, it was water sector sighs of relief all round.

Policy wise, it seems pretty clear Brexit will get done. The water industry’s preparations (for continuity of treatment chemical supplies in particular) have attracted praise. Now "no deal" is unlikely, it will hopefully be able to put those preparations into practice without much of a hitch.

The former government’s Environment Bill will no doubt now make a comeback. It had its critics but passed the Second Reading stage unopposed, so we can expect the water-related provisions including on abstraction reforms, bolstering Ofwat’s powers, long-term targets and joined up planning to materialise in due course.