Reform would nationalise half of water industry, says Nigel Farage

Telegraph

20-07-2025

Nigel Farage has vowed to nationalise half of the water industry by striking a deal with the private sector.
The Reform UK leader said he would attempt to fix the 'mess' blighting Britain's waterways by bringing 50 per cent of the sector under public ownership.
He refused to say how much the reforms would cost but insisted it would be 'a lot less' than the £50bn that has been estimated.
Mr Farage's promise comes as the Government has pledged to halve the amount of raw sewage being pumped into rivers, lakes and seas by the end of the decade.
But Reform has said the British taxpayers 'need to be in control' of their own utilities. In its 2024 manifesto, the party vowed to launch a 'new model' that brings 50 per cent of all utilities under public ownership, with the other half owned by UK pension funds.
Asked about the pledge on Sunday, Mr Farage said Britain had become 'completely incapable of coping' with the demands placed on the water sector by a huge increase in the population.
Pressed on how much it would cost to have 50 per cent of the industry under public ownership, Mr Farage told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: 'That depends what deal you do with the private sector investors.
'We are in a hell of a mess with this – an increase of the population by 10 million has left us completely incapable of coping, companies have been badly run.
'We would look for private sector investment, the Government can be a partner.'
Labour has resisted calls to nationalise the industry with Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, saying on Sunday it would cost too much and take too long.
Reform's 2024 manifesto said the British taxpayer 'needs to be in control of Britain's utilities' and vowed to 'launch a new model that brings 50 per cent of each utility into public ownership'.
'The other 50 per cent would be owned by UK pension funds, benefiting from new expertise and better management,' it added. 'We will ensure standing charges are capped to help low users and pensioners.'
The Government has estimated that it would cost more than £99bn to nationalise the water industry, based on figures from Ofwat, the water regulator.
But Mr Farage said it would cost 'a lot less' than half that to bring 50 per cent of the sector under Government control if the right deal was struck.
The leader of Reform told the BBC: 'I'm sorry, Defra [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] and Ofwat are part of the problem. Everybody thinks the same.
'It's public sector thinking, we need private sector innovation.'
Pressed again on whether he would spend £50bn, Mr Farage said: 'Well, I think it'd be a lot less than that if you strike the right deal.'
Asked how much it would cost, he continued: 'I don't know, I haven't sat in the negotiations – but a completely different mindset is needed.'
Mr Farage added: 'We don't know what negotiations we're going to have, but it doesn't need to be a big sum of money if you incentivise private capital to come in and do the job properly.'
The Reform UK leader also warned that British people are being defrauded of billions of pounds to fund net zero.
In an attack on Labour's environmental agenda, Mr Farage claimed that subsidising green energy schemes at the taxpayers' expense is having 'literally zero effect' on global emissions.
Reform has been heavily critical of the UK's bid to achieve net zero by 2050 and vowed to scrap the target if it wins the next election, claiming it would save £225bn.
Labour has pushed on with its attempts to decarbonise the economy, sticking to its pledge to achieve clean power by 2030 despite concerns about the impact on the UK's energy security.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mr Farage acknowledged the impact humans have had on the climate, saying it was 'impossible to think' that billions of people have not had an effect on rising temperatures.
But he insisted this did not mean Britain should 'beggar itself' by sacrificing traditional industries in favour of green initiatives when the UK accounts for around one per cent of greenhouse ga s emissions worldwide.
When Laura Kuenssberg put to him that the scientific consensus is 'absolutely clear that man's activity has a significant impact on the climate', Mr Farage said: 'Well, say it does, is that sufficient reason to defraud British taxpayers of billions of pounds every year, which is what we're doing in subsidising wind energy and solar energy for literally zero effect on global CO2 emissions?
'The same goes for closing our steel plants and moving the production to India. We've got ourselves stuck in this mindset. We believe that man has an influence on changing the climate. I didn't deny that.
'I think man does... it's impossible to think that seven or eight billion people can't have some effect.'
Earlier this year, research found that Britain's green energy subsidies have added an estimated £280 to household energy bills.
The figure was similar to the £300 that Labour promised bills would decrease by if the party came to power and moved Britain's energy system to renewables.
The Government has argued that subsidies are accelerating the move to clean energies and reducing UK vulnerability to future surges in gas and oil prices.
But critics have warned against sacrificing traditional British industries if it means outsourcing carbon-intensive production to other countries, at no net benefit to the environment.
Gareth Davies, shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, said: 'Nigel Farage is flogging billion-pound promises with no plans to deliver them, meaning higher taxes and more borrowing – and working families footing the bill. It's pure theatre – they are not serious.
'Only the Conservatives believe in sound money, lower taxes, and serious leadership. Britain deserves better than this circus.'
A Labour Party spokesman said: 'Nigel Farage summed up his ideas for the water industry in three words: 'I don't know'.
'He has no answers, no plan and nothing to offer apart from bluster. Working families can't afford an unfunded, uncosted Reform experiment with their money.'