August 10, 2026

We're taking a stand for public ownership of water

If this Labour Government wants to end 40 years of neoliberalism, we must start by returning services like water into public ownership.‍

Working with Labour's Environment Campaign - SERA, that's the message we're sending to Labour Party Conference this September.

We're asking CLPs across the country to submit our contemporary motion on public ownership of water to Conference before the 17th September deadline.

England's privatised water system is a national scandal. We all know it. Sewage dumping, soaring bills, outrageous executive pay and billions paid out in dividends are all symptoms of a system that puts private profit ahead of the public good.

But this isn't just about water.

It's about the Thatcherite economic settlement that has governed our country for more than 40 years.

At this year's Labour Party Conference, we want to take a step towards a new political economy rooted in public ownership, democratic control, good growth and resilience. And that starts with ending the scandal of privatised water.

Send our contemporary motion to your CLP today and help make this year's Conference the beginning of a new economic settlement.

In our recent publication, The Productive State: A Framework for Manchesterism, we outlined what a new economic settlement rooted in democracy, good growth and resilience could look like.

This motion is an opportunity to start turning those ideas into action. Take action with us today.