Labour MPs urge Keir Starmer to commit to nationalising water firms

Exclusive: Thames Water crisis prompts call for rethink on party’s decision to ditch nationalisation policy

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Keir Starmer must consider nationalising water companies, Labour MPs have said, as the potential collapse of Thames Water means taxpayers may end up footing the bill for the company’s debts.

Last year the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, ditched the Labour party’s policy to nationalise water, saying: “Within our fiscal rules, to be spending billions of pounds on nationalising things, that just doesn’t stack up against our fiscal rules.”