Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)

My Lords, even at 1.17 am, noble Lords will notice that I am not the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, but I shall speak on this since my noble friend signed these amendments, so ably introduced by the noble Earl, Lord Russell. The reality is that the public are sick—they are fed up and they are falling ill. The water companies were privatised, with a public asset handed over into the rapacious hands of hedge funds and fat cat bosses, and they are pumping sewage into our rivers and seas and getting away with it. Year after year, they miss their own targets and nothing really changes—no real consequences and no real accountability. These are amendments that keep pushing and saying to the Government that what they are doing is not enough. What could they do? It is pretty obvious: these services need to be run for public good, not private profit. That is the ultimate step. However, if the Government will not go that far, surely we need to see more action. Communities are seeing adults and children getting sick and their precious natural environments getting seriously damaged. They are denied access to what should be their crucial public spaces. This has to stop. The companies and bosses must not be allowed to continue to get away with this.