Corporate parasites use socialist saviour myth to try to blackmail Thames Water

Corporate parasites are weaponising manufactured fear to try to force a bailout of Thames Water onto an even more weakened Labour government. Potential investors are claiming that Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could, rightly, push to bring utilities into public ownership. The Guardian reported this corporate leak, and said:

Potential investors fear Andy Burnham could push to bring utility companies into public ownership

The establishment media portrays Burnham as some kind of big socialist threat to private equity. But we know he’s not the saviour some people like to think he is as his political history tells an entirely different story.

Thames Water cesspit

A bunch of creditors led by US investment firm Elliott Management is negotiating a shitty takeover deal for the collapsing water company. Private investors want tens of millions in environment fines written off. They also demand a reduction in environmental infrastructure investment for years. Because of course these vultures do.

Corporate ghouls are now using the threat of a possible Burnham leadership bid to scare prime minister Keir Starmer into signing the ridiculous deal. And let’s be honest, Starmer’s spine bends to corporations at the slightest bit of pressure.

🚨 NEW: A YouGov poll of Labour members shows Andy Burnham would beat Keir Starmer in a leadership contest

Burnham: 59%
Starmer: 37%
Don't know: 4%

706 members, 14-16 May

— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) May 18, 2026

These corporate parasites claim special administration would create unnecessary instability for the supply chain. In short, the public get the shitty end of the stick. But this panic is entirely artificial because Burnham is far from the socialist saviour that the mainstream media wants you to think.

Thames Water is suffocating under £17.6bn worth of debt which the company has accumulated since it was privatised. The company is drowning in debt, yet previous owners and capitalists have sucked billions out of it in dividends. Private shareholders got fat on massive payouts whilst leaving us to inherit a dried out husk and polluted waterways.

He’s not a saviour, he’s a very naughty boy

The media and capitalist parasites are trying to paint Burnham as some kind of ‘socialist saviour’ but nothing could be further from the truth. Canary author Willem Moore highlights the difficult yet ambitious path Burnham will have to travel in order to be selected for the upcoming Makerfield byelection. Once securely in his Westminster seat, Burnham can challenge Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party.

He has used the success of his public-owned Bee Network buses in Manchester to build a political case for wider nationalisation. On Saturday we publicly argued that the UK must put utilities back under stronger public control. It sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? But don’t believe everything you hear…

But, Burnham has already stated he will not pursue proportional representation, and has fallen short of calling for full re-nationalisation of our utilities. Yes, we would have stronger control over them, but they would not be entirely ours.

Andy Burnham: “I don’t blame anyone who left our party. I don’t blame anyone who voted for other parties”.

“We need to renationalise water, energy and housing.” pic.twitter.com/lS5TXENvXG

— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) May 16, 2026

His own parliamentary voting record tells a story of soft-left politics that prioritises establishment compliance. And definitely not that of a radical overhaul the public so desperately needs. Burnham consistently voted for the Iraq war between 2002 and 2003. And of course, he then voted against investigations into the disastrous conflict.

Tellingly, in 2015, Burnham chose to abstain on the cruel Tory Welfare Reform Bill, which drove hundreds of thousands of people into poverty.

So, don’t believe the corporate fear-mongering you’re seeing in the mainstream media. Burnham may play a good game publicly, but his voting record and actions show historically, he has always batted for the corporate team.

We, the public, need to reject corporate blackmail and the false promises of wannabe Labour leader Burnham. The UK needs real, full, collective ownership. We need a real leader who will tell these corporate parasites to get their teeth out of our utilities.

Featured image via the Canary