Prof Jamie Woodward

Delighted to share my upcoming book in the @YaleBooks Little Histories Series: “A lively account of the history of our planet, from its earliest origins to the present day, told through the major geological changes and scientific breakthroughs” yalebooks.co.uk/book/978030024… 23-09-25

How embarrassing can it possible be to say you are going to cut sewage dumping by 50% by 2030 only to realise that announcement had already been made by Ofwat over 1 year ago and that your new target is actually worse than the old one. OOPS!!!

To Manchester!

Still a bit puzzled as to which metric @SteveReedMP is using when stating several times on TV that sewage pollution is worse in Scotland than England. Can you help @DefraGovUK ? @JonahFisherBBC @krishgm @adamvaughan_uk @horton_official @sandralaville @WATERSHED_i

Alexa — show me hopelessly ineffectual

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: "These water companies say they're putting £billions in." Feargal Sharkey: "They’ve taken away £84 billion of our money in dividends and created £74 billion of debt…We've been cheated.”

#Cunliffe 5. The Cunliffe report says " the ownership model itself does not appear to be the most important driver of company outcomes." The People's Commission report shows the exact opposite. Where there is public ownership water is used more efficiently, the provision of water…

Glad to hear that @SteveReedMP has a meeting this afternoon with the CEOs of water companies. Perhaps he'll be issuing a statement afterwards justifying why most are paid £500k + for essentially not managing to guarantee water supply or keep poo out of our seas and rivers..?

Clean rivers campaigner, Professor Becky Malby, tells @AyshahTull she thinks the government's plans to reform the water sector will "make very little difference" as they are failing to consider public ownership of water companies. Read and watch here: channel4.com/news/we-cant-r…

The Government’s independent water commission feels like a missed opportunity, entrenching a privatised model that has already failed economically, environmentally, and democratically.

Mt Blanc from Chamonix this morning! 😍 Almost 4km vertical distance! 🏔️ This seemingly unchanging glacial landscape recently undergone huge changes due to recent summers record-breaking ice melts 🔥 Never thought I'd witness such a rapid collapse! 📷@lomdumtblanc.bsky.social

Don’t take us for fools, @Keir_Starmer. These reforms are just putting lipstick on a pig. Let water companies profit at our expense and you risk losing public trust and the confidence of your own MPs. standard.co.uk/comment/water-… Comment from @gilesbristow in @standardnews today…

“England’s privatised water industry may one day be considered a textbook case study of failed corporate responsibility, regulation and governance.” theconversation.com/no-wonder-engl…

England water bills will rise by a third to fund privatisation. People already paid. Companies didn't invest, paid £85bn in dividends. Customers to pay again for service they don't get. Companies raise capital from customers, shareholders take profits. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

"£104bn of water industry investment will come from bill payers, environment secretary concedes." And there we finally have it, there is no "£104 billion of private sector investment". Question is how long has the SoS known this and why has he kept repeating that myth? Well…

Looting at Thames Water Net assets 1990, £1,329m; 2024, £1,301m; 2025, £359m negative - liabilities exceed assets NO shareholder investment since privatisation? Dividends £10.4bn. Can't build water services without ending privatisation. Water Commission didn't spot looting.

I wrote an article on why Environment Agency ‘pollution incidents’ are very different metrics to ‘pollution’ theconversation.com/no-wonder-engl…

The italian side of Mont Blanc is literally crumbling these days! 🔥🪨 Here is a shootage SE from Gonella Hut towards a steep tributary of Miage Gl. 3 days ago A large rock avalanche (size of this block!) fell from ~3500 m and eroded part of the glacier 🎥 Verticalfrontiers/IG

One reason was Ofwat’s indifference to debt-fuelled financial engineering and profiteering. Since privatisation water companies have borrowed £74bn, much of which was used to pay £83bn in dividends. Many companies (including Thames) have leverage ratios nearing 80%.

Water is the ultimate natural monopoly, and the most fundamental human need. It should serve the public, not profit Public ownership is no panacea, and brings a new set of problems, as is clear from Scottish Water. But it’s time to admit it — privatisation has been a disaster

I spent a year at Ofwat back in 2013 working on price controls I’m not remotely surprised it’s being abolished - what I saw astonished me 🧵 theguardian.com/business/2025/…