Greens Would Renationalise Two Water Firms and Guarantee Youth Jobs
The Greens would take Thames Water and South East Water into public ownership before Christmas without compensating shareholders or creditors, their co-deputy leader Rachel Millward told the party’s conference in Brighton, arguing both are insolvent. Her fellow co-deputy, Mothin Ali, set out a guaranteed two-year job for every 18 to 24-year-old within four months of leaving education, with the state paying half the salary.
“Not a single major reservoir has been built in this country since the beginning of privatisation 35 years ago,” Ms Millward said, promising action “not in 10 years, but before Christmas” and at “no cost to the tax payer”: “Forget compensation for shareholders and creditors, these are insolvent companies.” She said the prime minister was “making a mistake”; his own legislation would repeal the ban on public ownership of water and begin a decade-long process. South East Water said it is investing £1.9 billion in local infrastructure and resilience over the next five years. Mr Ali’s jobs guarantee would sit in the private sector, exempt employers from National Insurance and require in-job training; the party says a pilot would create 9,000 jobs for £110 million in Rotherham, Ceredigion, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Broxtowe and South Staffordshire, though those costings came from party material rather than the speech itself. He put the number of young people out of work, education or training at a million, roughly one in seven of those aged 16 to 24, and said that “if we don’t take action now, we’re losing a generation”; the party estimates each such person costs the state £240,000 in benefits over a lifetime. Green membership now exceeds 200,000. Watch Sunday’s motions.