The Great British water crisis: From Thatcher’s privatisation pipe dream to busted flush

In theory, Thames Water is owned by some of the wealthiest bodies on Earth, writes Chris Blackhurst. In reality, a sector that had the slate wiped clean 34 years ago by Margaret Thatcher is in hock today to the tune of £65bn, and the leaks Sunak is trying and failing to stem are spreading

So anxious were Thatcher and her colleagues to dismantle the public sector that they were clearing the debts, writing them off – and flogging the industry cheaply (Getty Images)

Back in the late 1980s, Mrs Thatcher was in her pomp. She was sweeping everything before her, beating the unions here, breaking up the vast state apparatus there.

In the City, which I remember well, there was a sense of bonanza, of striking the jackpot. I recall being in a watering hole one evening off Moorgate, the door flinging open and a pinstriped character rushing in, clutching piles of documents, shouting: “Fancy some stagging, boys?”

Everyone gathered around him, grabbing the papers and waving them aloft. They were prospectuses for one of the government privatisations – and “stagging” was the practice of buying shares on flotation and selling them immediately for an instant profit.