Tim Farron has slammed water companies and regulators following news of customer bill increases, calling the current market a “rigged racket".
Mr Farron, the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, has reacted to the news that some water companies in England have been given the green light to increase bills for customers.
This is despite public horror at the increase of water pollution by firms in many areas in the nation.
Anglian Water, Northumbria Water, Southern Water, Wessex Water, and South East Water are the companies that were given permission by an independent group of experts to raise bills by 3%.
The former Lib Dem leader, who is now the party’s environment spokesperson, took to social media to voice his concerns at the bill rises.
He wrote: “Customers are seeing their water bills rocket, whilst leaky infrastructure further deteriorates, and gallons of disgusting sewage are pumped into British rivers and seas.
“These increases are disgraceful and insulting to customers.
“They shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the failures of private water companies to clean up the mess they themselves created.
“And we shouldn’t have a regulator that can simply be ignored.”
Mr Farron wrote “enough is enough” and that the Lib Dems will continue to call on Sir Keir Starmer’s Government to fully replace the current regulator, Ofwat, with a more commanding presence.
This comes just a day after Farron’s parliamentary colleague and constituency neighbour, Michelle Scrogham, welcomed cash from fined water firms that had been reinvested back into local Cumbrian environment projects.
The money, which is part of the Government’s Water Restoration Fund, is made up of fines collected from water companies by the Government between April 2022 and October 2023.
Regarding the reinvested fines, Mrs Scrogham said: “This will directly benefit communities and the environment, which have been harmed by rule breaking.”
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