Danny Dyer delivers petition for water industry public ownership to Downing Street

Centre · 2Actor Danny Dyer delivered a petition to Downing Street on Wednesday 14 October calling on the Government to "return the water industry to public ownership". 1 2 Centre · 2He made the delivery with Kevin McKenna, the Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey; the BBC reports that the pair first sailed a giant sculpture of sewage down the River Thames on a boat as part of the protest. 2 1 Centre · 2The petition was started by campaigners SOS Whitstable and has about 345,000 signatures (the Standard says more than 345,000; the BBC says nearly 350,000). Because it has passed 100,000, it will be considered for debate in Parliament. 1 2

Centre · 1The petition criticises privatisation, says the industry is "no longer fit for purpose", and claims water companies are "exploiting" an "essential natural resource" and failing to reinvest profits in infrastructure. 1 Centre · 2Dyer, who runs a caravan park on the Isle of Sheppey with his daughter Dani Dyer, joined a sewage protest in Leysdown, Kent, in September, with Becky Hill and Surfers Against Sewage; he has called the bathing water quality "a disgrace". 2 1 Centre · 1McKenna told the BBC that Dyer is "a man of passion" and that the public is "really sick" of sewage discharges. 2

Centre · 1The BBC adds that Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants "greater public control" of water and energy, but that nationalisation suggestions have met pushback, including from lenders to Thames Water. 2 Centre · 2Water UK said it is working to end sewage discharges "as fast as we possibly can", and Southern Water cited an £8.9bn investment programme and a near one-third cut in pollution incidents between 2023 and 2025. The BBC also notes that Defra rates Leysdown's bathing water as good, with no pollution incidents reported; the Standard said it had contacted Defra for comment. 2 1