How absolutely fucking outrageous that a former director of OfWat is now an executive at a private utility company.

Imagine privatising water. Fucking WATER.

Rich criminals go before a committee, poor ones go before a judge !

Corrupt liars, poisoning our countryside & beaches. Jail them.

I don't understand why we are talking about this. Take the money back from the investors as they were practically stollen and throw all CEOs into prison. Enough is enough of being too soft on white collar crime 😡😡😡😡😡

Darren Jones is a fucking hero. Absolutely class act and one of the seemingly few genuine people operating in these circles.

Catherine Ross is game keeper (used to be part of the board at OFWAT) turned poacher (CEO of Thames Water). Corruption at its best. They make me sick….

The amount that these people earn a year would be obscene even if they were good at their jobs. The fact that they are also absolutely incompetent renders their salaries utterly deplorable

I blame the public. Too many of us aren’t interested in politics or trust a posh voice in a suit.

As soon as he opens with "We've been clear/transparent..." - you know it's going to be self serving weasel waffle.

There is no justice in this country. How these blatant criminals are left to plunder and profit breaks me

Catherine Ross should be behind bars for allowing them to pay more in dividends than they made in profit - that's clear breach of statutory obligations as laid out by the honourable gentleman

Cathryn Ross is despicable. Her oh gosh! on water company collapse. As if she’d never thought of it. That was HER JOB to worry about at OFWAT!

They should be in jail, not still getting paid millions of pounds.

Incapable of taking any accountability whatsoever. What a disgraceful corrupt country this has become.

The CEO needs to be put into jail... Really poor management, only benefiting shareholders 💯

Thames water had no deficit but borrowed heavily, piled up debt whilst giving billions to shareholders, no new reservoirs built, structures crumbling, industrial scale leaks.. Charging us and government to pay up. Almost all water companies in England are owned by global corporates. An essential service should never be Privatised.

As if they care, millions of pounds salaries and bonuses to take a telling off from a committee.. tough gig !

Love it when Darren Jones goes in so well informed about every subject

I am slightly addicted to watching these committees

Darren Jones needs to be in the shadow cabinet ASAP

I feel like there should be prison sentences for people who discharge their duty THIS poorly - it's practically theft

I'm an accountant. 30% gearing is about average; 50% is considered high. 60% is stupid, but manageable. 80% is beyond ridiculous - it's not even a Going Concern anymore at that point

Water prices going up but these people haven't invested and given all the money to the shareholders...and now they want us to take on the hike because of their failure! This makes me SO ANGRY! Lock these people up. They know exactly what they were doing!

These regulators are absolutely useless.

I’ve got a lot faith in this committee but there never seems to be any consequences for the wrongs done to us. Very grateful to Darren Jones and the rest. Can we just put them in charge?

I worked in the water industry as a leakage technician and a project engineer. I was a contractor that worked in Thames water for several periods of time and I can honestly say Thames water had the very worst leakage technicians I have ever come across. They thought a running fire main into a disused power station was normal. When I got that main turned off for one hour it dropped the leakage in that area by 17 cubic metres. The whole area was losing 25-26 cubic metres an hour. It took a lot of explaining to the thames water technician that a fire main should only be running when there is a fire, and not when it’s a disused site!

Why do we allow public money to be constantly piliged to bail out private companies?

I was a chemical process safety engineer chartered with the IChemE until the IChemE took issue with me asking the same sorts of questions that Labour MPs are asking now. Tear into them, take no prisoners, all those who tried to solve this according to their duties to the crown got the same treatment from these corporate parasites over the last quarter century, it's about time they understand what pain means. I never turned my back on my duty, even if it meant getting thrown under the bus, and it's only Labour politicians upholding what duty means from what I can see of politics these days, from the perspective of the Crown Charter that all engineers in this country must sign up to.

that woman should be sacked and never let near any company again, what a slimy lying person! ( being Kind)

Been saying this for months. Each and everyone of them are to hand back their entire salaries from the day they started. None of them have justified those salaries from the day they took office. Obscene that people can get away with being paid like this for the gravest mis-management.

"The views have moved on" is the most AMAZING way of saying 'what we told you was bullshit' that I have EVER heard 🤣So glad to hear the committee member repeat that audacious nonsense back to her. Why's it so rare for public officials to own their failures?

The former head of ofwat, now the head of one of these privatized companies. Now expecting people to believe she wasn't influenced by said companies. Criminal investigation's need to be applied to these rip off merchant's.

The arrogance and complacency of these people is infuriating. Based on the sure knowledge that the structure of our society allows the privileged to be rewarded for corruption and failure that would be catastrophic for ordinary people.

The absolute shameless state of them.

Nationalise water and all public utilities get these crooks out!!!!

HOW IS THIS NOT CRIMINAL? She signed off on increasing the debt from 4 to 10 billion (GB£10 000 000 000) and now (a few years later) she heads up the company????????????????? How much has she earned? What am I missing???

The problem is shareholders taking profit. Basic utilities should be not profit organisations.

The contempt in that sigh at 09:45 says all you need to know.

Utterly reckless utility managers. These people should really be banned from running or advising any company in the future.

Lock em up 🔒

Why aren’t these people in prison ?

It needs more consequences for the intentional wrongdoings of these people. Take away their bonuses, jail time. Whatever. They gamble the shit out of the company and then when the party is over, let's ask the government to bail us out. This has to stop. There's no risk for these people. They still have their jobs that's the worst, they should be fired immediately without pay.

Ofwat chair is an utter disgrace. No shame or apology.

How come it takes £3 a month to provide water to a whole African village but Thames water can’t sort their sh*t out with £40+ a month?

Darren Jones brilliant 🤩 front bench future PM 👍👍🙏🏻

These people should be in prison theyre incompetent

No private ownership of natural monopolies and essential services!!

These crooks should be in jail.

Clear case of corporate criminality. Put the crooks in prison.

Get the money back, don't let them away with daylight robbery

We were already paying our monthly bills on the proviso that the money was being used to undate the system. Thats what we signed up for. To be told we will have to pay AGAIN for the same thing because they couldnt be arsed to do it the first time round is so fucking shocking its insane.

How can those 3 sit there, with arrogance, egotism and a such blasé attitude to something they all contributed to?? Quite a number of years ago I got myself into debt with a bank, had to have a meeting with the bank manager to figure out how I can repay the monies, and the entire time I was there I felt nothing but shame and disappointment in myself. And that was only a debt of £6000!! We’re talking about BILLIONS here!!

Gamekeeper turned poacher, changing and knowing rules prior to the change; how is that even legal?

Why aren't the CEOs of Thames Water in jail, or is it legal to constantly milk, what should be public utilities of money until they are insolvent?

Gamekeeper turned poacher... Absolute corruption

So the regulators all end up running the companies that they set up the regulation to regulate. It stinks as much as all their sewage discharges!

Just imagine how good a privatised NHS will be .

Lock them up!

You pay money to water company and they pay half of it to shareholders and director's. How to launder money legally.

Why are they not in a criminal court?

Corruption at its finest !

On radio 4 they were claiming that bills would have to go up to, address the victorian infrastructure. I seem to remember this being mentioned when the water companies were privatised. Given that was 30 years ago and there's no competition, what the hell have they been doing.

Corruption of individuals who are just there to fill their pockets.

Darren Jones should be the labour leader!!!

*MY HATRED FOR THESE PEOPLE* is limitless...

Nice to see Sue Perkins diversifying in her career.

Nothing is their fault, somebody else (us) is relied upon to act as guarantor whilst they have recklessly mismanaged their responsibilities and enriched foreign shareholders! It is criminal!

Barry Gardiner - Brilliant. He would be a great PM?

The media has us think the poor, migrants etc are the boogeymen. Rather, it’s the well spoken folks on the boards and CxO positions of these companies and those who enable them.

These are the people that will sell this country down the river

So these CEO’s used to be regulators? The same process that ultimately led to the Boeing 737MAX accidents, the regulatory revolving door.

Same level of corruption going on at OFGEM & OFCOM

The regulator was so good for the water companies they gave her a job,that says it all .

And let this sink in...the chief executive of offwhat that now works for Thames water, said she didnt agree with the judges findings that Thames water had fiddled the readings and been evasive when they discovered the leak of sewage.

Good old Barry!

The dividends paid out to so many, involved with this Company, is ridiculous. Salaries are through the roof. No tories screaming here at Mick Lynch over high salaries

Essentially, the water companies borrowed large (£billions!) to pay offshore dividends - and just a passing nod to investing in infrastructure. But those debts will be paid by billing customers. Of course the industry should be nationalised - it was entirely debt free when Thatcher privatised them!

They paid more in dividends then they maid in profit some years. Absolutely insane

Nationalise water for heavens sake!

so basicaly half your bill you pay goes into shareholders pockets nothing invested only borrowed money

Wait,. The boss of OFWAT then became Chief Exec of OFWAT? There needs to be jail time.

If there were a university degree in slipperiness, question evasion and expertise in using the revolving door these people would undoubtedly have "honours".

Wait, hang on, did anybody else catch the bit at 2:40 or so? That the Joint Interim CEO at Thames Water... used to work at OFWAT, the regulator for the sector? What the fuck??

All water companies and tall transport buses and trains etc , energy should be under public ownership A prime example of greed does not work dumping sewage in too the water system is crimeral

Darren Jones MP your the best👍🏽

The last time i took notice of the commons select committee was when they tried to bring carillion to book. Carillion directors laughed at the government and told them, we're not giving the money back.

So what Thames Water are saying is that there was never any "risk for share holders" as they were just always to be paid huge dividends out of my water bills. Service & infrastructure were never items on anyones agenda

Wait until they privatise the air we breathe, because if they could they would!

Did she mean: "Upon thorough contemplation, it has become incontrovertibly apparent that the profound recesses of my cognitive faculties have regrettably failed to amass an adequate assortment of erudite and comprehensive information to formulate a sufficiently intricate and elaborate response that would aptly address your inquiry."

Darren Jones is the grim reaper to these corrupt criminals!

These committees are not going far enough. I can talk the whole day with you guys without facing other consequences I wouldn't give a shit. Just like they do

The girating door. The person in charge of the regulator allows companies to assset strip a country and then get hired by the very same company to receive dozens of milions of pounds in compensation for services rendered.

Go for it Darren

The MP for Bristol is brilliant

Would you take hundreds of thousands of pounds but be told off for 15 minutes every few years? They would. There should be legal consequences.

Australian banks, Chinese & Qutari investors. And the Tories and their so-called capitalism are the patriotic choice?

Why the hell do we tolerate this? Put them all in prison

I beleve it's a rule in the sociopath community always to deny one's sociopathic acts.

Terrorise is a strong word when its clearly interrogate.