UK Labour Party Seeks Nationalization Of Water Industry - Shadow Chancellor

The UK Labour Party will nationalize the country's water industry if it comes to power, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said on Monday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2018) The UK Labour Party will nationalize the country's water industry if it comes to power, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said on Monday.

The water and wastewater services were privatized in England and Wales in 1989.

"Water bills have risen 40% in real terms since privatization. Water companies receive more in tax credits than they pay in tax. Each day enough water to meet the needs of 20 million people is lost due to leakages. With figures like that, we can't afford not to take them back. But let's be clear, nationalization will not be a return to the past," McDonnell said.

The shadow chancellor pointed out that he along with Labour lawmaker Rebecca Long-Bailey were launching a "large scale consultation on democracy in [the UK] public services."

"There will be unprecedented openness and transparency in how the industry will be managed. We are ending the profiteering in dividends, vast executive salaries, and excessive interest payments. Surpluses will be reinvested in water infrastructure and staff, or used to reduce bills.

Real investment will allow the highest environmental standards," McDonnell said.

He noted that the Labour party would intensify its campaign against the corporate tax avoidance.

"We can't trust the Tories on this but we shouldn't just wait until we get into government. We should act now ... One way is to mobilize shareholder power to demand companies uphold basic tax justice standards. Numerous institutions from churches to trade unions and pension funds have large scale shareholdings in many of the companies that avoid taxes. So today I'm announcing my intention to bring together these organizations to launch a shareholder campaign," McDonnell said.

The shadow chancellor stated that the party would be demanding that companies sign up to the Fair Tax Mark standards so that the firms demonstrate transparently that they pay their fair share of taxes.

The UK Labour Party has been in opposition since 2010 when the party headed by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown was defeated by the Conservative Party headed then by David Cameron.