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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Alex Lawson

Will rising debt cause Thames Water to sink under a Labour government?

A young woman in a Surfers Against Sewage wetsuit paddling a surfboard while wearing a gas mask
Campaigners stage a paddle-out protest outside Thames Water HQ in Reading last week. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex Shutterstock

If Labour triumphs in this week’s election, as polls suggest, then top of the incoming business secretary Jonathan Reynolds’s in-tray will be the possible collapse of Thames Water. The Thames timebomb is ticking – and could explode before new MPs have even become fully acquainted with the corridors of Westminster.

To recap, Britain’s biggest water company has been labouring under an £18bn debt mountain and has become the chief target of mounting anger from the public and politicians towards the industry over sewage spills, executive pay and shareholder payouts.

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