Campaigners petition for forcing polluting firms to issue shares instead of pay fines
Public ownership campaign group We Own It is calling on Parliament to pass a law to compel water companies to issue shares when they breach environmental laws, rather than pay fines.
It launched a petition today to that effect, and argued the proposal is popular with the public. A poll by Survation showed 65% of respondents supported the idea, with just 5% opposed.
We Own It also proposed the creation of regional, publicly-owned water companies — shadowing the existing private operators — that are ready to take the share "fines". These new entities would, the campaigners argued, start to give the public a meaningful say over their water services and could feature groups on their boards such as Surfers Against Sewage and Windrush Against Sewage Pollution.
The campaigners argued that the low level of public criticism makes the policy “an easy win at a time when commentators and politicians are looking for solutions to the water crisis ahead of the next election”.
Matthew Topham, lead campaigner at We Own It, said: “Fines for pollution offences are a drop in the ocean for private water firms. If we’re serious about sorting out sewage, we need to end the system where water companies gladly pay peanuts to pollute. Regulation has been a demonstrable failure: after 34 years of private water companies not playing by the rules, it’s time to change them.
“That’s where 'shares not fines' comes in. Private water companies have let infrastructure crumble and incorporated fines into their business models. We should stop them polluting our rivers by hitting them where it hurts and taking shares instead.
“In the longer term, we want to see our water system in public hands, where it can work for people not profit. Delivering 'shares not fines' is something that we can do right now to start building a water system based around democratic public ownership.”
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