New Holborn and St Pancras MP Sagal Abdi-Wali used her victory speech to say “I’ve spoken about Thames Water and its appalling service, and I want to see Thames Water brought into public ownership so that it works for people and not profit.” That actually isn’t the No10 position…
At Labour Party Conference, the Prime Minister said: “Angela Eagle will present a strengthened Water Bill to Parliament. The centrepiece of that Bill will be this – the repeal of Margaret Thatcher’s ideological ban on public ownership of water companies.” But Abdi-Wali wants to go further. She was straight out pushing the leadership to do more: “That’s a step in the right direction for me. I want to see it more into public ownership because I just feel like the service is no longer adequate, and people have had enough, both in terms of how much failure there is, but also seeing the cost at the end”…
During the campaign, Abdi-Wali told voters she was putting Thames Water “on notice” and said: “I’m demanding Thames Water compensates local businesses and that’s why I back public ownership of Thames Water to ensure that money we pay on our bills goes on upgrading the infrastructure and not making shareholders richer.” That’s a step further than Burnham’s stated ‘nationalisation journey’…
When Camden New Journal asked whether she thought it was likely to happen, her campaign team said she could not comment on the “direction of travel.” Watch Abdi-Wali carefully…
Burnham spinning like a wheel in the Commons:
“I will very much say so on the record… It was legitimate. I have always respected the result. I have never questioned its legitimacy. But I am within my rights to point out where foreign actors are looking to interfere in British democracy.”