Thames Water is “essentially bust” and should be renationalised, according to comments made to the Financial Times by Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK.
Tice remarked that Britain’s largest water supplier should be “put out of its misery”.
With over £16 billion worth of debt on its books and mere months of cash runway left, few would disagree with Tice’s grim assessment of the business.
Thames Water, with support from creditors, prefers a market-based solution to meet its financial needs rather than succumbing to public ownership.
But Tice criticised private-sector lenders that are offering high-interest loans that risk prolonging Thames Water’s financial misery.
“There has to be moral hazard. Let it go into special administration for £1 and reorganise it to the benefit of taxpayers and consumers,” he stated.
The UK government has maintained its preference for a market-led solution. Thames Water echoed this position, with a spokesperson stating that such an approach would deliver the “best financial and operational outcome for customers, the environment, UK taxpayers and the UK economy.”