The up-front cost of the Labour Party’s renationalisation proposals for water and energy utilities, train companies and Royal Mail is estimated to be £196 billion, according to new analysis by the CBI.

The political plates are currently shifting fast, but behind the headlines the debate over who runs the water industry is still rumbling.

Support for water nationalisation has slumped following last week’s exposure of Labour’s plan to hit the savings of nearly six million pensioners if they take the English water industry into government ownership. 

Water UK is warning that Labour’s plans to renationalise the water UK companies in England would hit the retirement funds of over five million pensioners who would lose thousands of pounds each.

A report in the Financial Times has suggested that the potential renalisation of water companies in England and Wales could cost as little as £14.5 billion – far less than the alternative figure of up to £90 billion suggested by think tank Social Market Foundation in February 2018.

There has been a substantial fall in public support for water nationalisation, according to a new survey by leading polling experts in corporate reputation and public policy ComRes. 

Ofwat Chairman Jonson Cox is warning UK water companies to get ready for a period of “peak intrusion.”

In an Expert Focus article for Waterbriefing, Colm Gibson, managing director of Berkeley Research Group's London-based economic regulation practice, explores some key issues around the continuing renationalisation debate and Ofwat’s 2019 Price Review.

S&P Global Ratings are warning that regulatory reset, Brexit and other political risks could weigh on UK utility ratings – and a scenario in which the U.K. leaves the EU without a deal could lead to a prolonged period of market volatility, with reduced market liquidity and increasing regional risk.

The GMB Union is continuing with its efforts to seek water sector re-nationalisation with the publication of a study showing that more than 70% of English water firms are owned by foreign companies.