CAMPAIGNERS renewed calls to nationalise Thames Water today following the collapse of a £4 billion rescue deal for the company.

Britain’s largest water supplier is saddled with around £19bn in debt and recently had to go to the High Court to secure a £3bn bailout to keep the business afloat until next summer.

It had named US private equity firm KKR as its preferred bidder in March, but Thames Water confirmed today that KKR was “not in a position to proceed.” 

The company said it was now in talks with “certain senior creditors” on an alternative plan.

We Own It founder Cat Hobbs said: “It’s a good thing [KKR] is not getting their claws into one of our biggest utilities, serving 16 million customers.” 

She said that even if Thames Water was taken over by another private company, it would still be drowning in debt, “trying to dodge” environmental fines and prioritising shareholders over billpayers and the environment.

“With record levels of sewage pollution and water bills going up by 35 per cent, what we are witnessing is the catastrophic failure of [Margaret] Thatcher’s privatisation experiment,” Ms Hobbs argued.

“The government has ducked the issue for too long — special administration to slash the rotten debt, then full public ownership, is the only way to reverse this catastrophe.”

GMB national officer Gary Carter said the private sector had “failed Thames Water, its customers, the workforce and the environment,” adding: “It’s time to end this tragedy and for the government to nationalise Thames Water.”

Unison’s Donna Rowe-Merriman echoed the call, saying: “The situation at Thames Water can't go on. Customers and staff are being failed at every turn and deserve better.

“With the options running out, the government must take decisive action sooner rather than later.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government was monitoring the situation.

In Parliament, Environmental Secretary Steve Reed rejected calls for nationalisation, telling MP it would cost over £100bn and take public funds away from other services such as the NHS. 

Labour’s Clive Lewis had earlier told the Commons: “The collapse of KKR’s rescue deal isn’t a blip, it’s a reckoning, a moment that exposes the complete bankruptcy of the privatised water model.”

The Norwich South MP urged the government to “stop fiddling … and begin the job of returning our water system, not just Thames, back into public ownership.”