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Common Wealth

@cmmonwealth.bsky.social
5.4K followers 244 following 1.7K posts

We design ownership models for a democratic and sustainable economy. common-wealth.org linktr.ee/common.wealth

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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 12h
“Public ownership is what 90% of the world does and what 82% of the British public want because they see the failures of privatisation.” “Crystal Clear,” our recent briefing on the roadmap to public water ownership, featured in @theleaduk.bsky.social 👇 national.thelead.uk/p/the-lead-u...
national.thelead.uk
The Lead Untangles: Renationalising the water industry
Our water is in crisis, the prime minister has now swung behind public ownership of it. What’s next?
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Reposted by Common Wealth
Transition Security Project @transitionsec.bsky.social · 16h
NEW: Keir Starmer declared last year that the “peace dividend” was over, promoting the myth that Britain’s military spending has declined since the end of the Cold War.   Our latest report shows this simply isn’t true. 🧵
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Control without ownership? Will Hutton & Andy Haldane have drawn up a plan to fix the UK water industry: introduce guardrails, but keep it in private hands. Chris Hayes explains why this is ill-founded – and why only public ownership can fix a broken system. www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
Muddying the Water: A Reply to Hutton and Haldane
On the dubious dismissal of the public ownership of water.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The state has a lower cost of capital that will make it highly competitive. Competition should, over time, lower bills, speed up rollout and increase investment into the grid." @mathewlawrence.bsky.social in @thetimes.com on the plan for Great British Grid. www.thetimes.com/business/com...
thetimes.com
What is Andy Burnham’s Great British Grid and how will it work?
The prime minister wants to fire up the country’s energy system. But how effective can it be when its budget is tight?
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Energy bills are set to rise for millions of households from Thursday. Our Director is part of a group of experts and campaigners that has written to the Chancellor, warning that “failure to take action would risk deepening the cost of living crisis.” www.theguardian.com/money/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Healey urged to offer energy support in budget as bills rise 4%
Millions of people in Great Britain face increase from Thursday to an average of £1,723 a year for a typical home
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Nine years after Grenfell, the Met Police is filing charges against some of the companies involved. Read our report on Arconic — the company that produced the cladding behind the fire — to understand how these companies dodged accountability for so long. www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
Unpunished and Undeterred: Corporate Accountability After Grenfell
Legal frameworks governing corporate malpractice are not fit for purpose.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“One of the things we’re pushing for… is a ‘failure to prevent’ duty. This would ask companies to actively prevent things from happening, rather than just holding companies responsible after the fact.” Leela Jadhav on @channel4news.bsky.social about corporate accountability after Grenfell 👇
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
And to stay in the loop with updates from Common Wealth, subscribe to our Substack here 👇 cmmonwealth.substack.com?r=96hggc&utm...
cmmonwealth.substack.com
Common Wealth | Substack
We design ownership models for a democratic and sustainable economy. Click to read Common Wealth, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"As the Prime Minister declared in Liverpool: privatisation of the water industry in England has failed. Debate is now not whether change is needed, but in what form." Read an extract from our new briefing "Crystal Clear" on our Substack: cmmonwealth.substack.com/p/why-public...
cmmonwealth.substack.com
Why Public Ownership of Water is Better than Alternative Proposals
An extract from our new briefing “Crystal Clear”.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“If done well, this could be a win-win. It could speed up the grid, make returns flow better to the public, and help lower energy costs for businesses and households.” @mathewlawrence.bsky.social discusses Andy Burnham’s new plan for a public electricity grid company on BBC Scotland👇
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"The jury's out as to what [Burnham's water announcement] will actually mean, but it is a step forwards for what I think the public want, which is taking water back... into public hands." Our director @mathewlawrence.bsky.social rounded up of the PM's speech at Labour Party Conference to BBC News.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Britain “is one of the only countries to have fully privatised its grid... but today’s announcement can help rebuild state capacity in energy, learning by doing”. @mathewlawrence.bsky.social in the @theguardian.com on the GB Grid plan. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
What is Burnham’s GB Grid plan and could it bring down energy bills?
Proposed government-backed network body welcomed by some in sector but others call it just another quango
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Britain’s privatisation of the energy grid has led to “decades of sluggish development and chronic underinvestment. [Burnham] seems to have fixed that by bringing in public investment into new parts of the grid.” Our Director @mathewlawrence.bsky.social for BBC News👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Andy Burnham to unveil public body to invest in electricity grid
The prime minister will say he wants to reduce energy costs in his first conference speech as Labour leader.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Nearly 90 per cent of water in wealthy democracies is publicly owned. England doesn’t have to accept polluted rivers, leaking pipes and high bills. Public ownership offers the best way to fix this system. Read our new briefing to find out why. www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
Crystal Clear: the Solutions for Clean, Running Water
The clearest and most cost-effective route to genuine public control of England's water is through public ownership.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Some have proposed “mutualisation” models — ownership by customers, workers, or both. This would improve on our current system but will leave water companies tied to high borrowing costs to fund urgent investment.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Under the current privatised system, billpayers pay £4.4bn a year (£176 per household) in returns on capital to shareholders and banks, even though bills have been sufficient to finance investment every year since 1993, and debt has overwhelmingly been issued to pay dividends.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In 2019, Moody’s estimated a one-off cost of £14.5 billion in 2019 to bring water into public ownership. This report estimates that in 2026, public ownership using special administration of failing water companies will cost closer to £0.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Relentlessly, water polluter lobbyists have argued public ownership would cost £90 billion in 2018, £100 billion in 2024 and now £144 billion in 2026. This figures, though very effective in scaring governments, have no basis in reality or law.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Since privatisation in 1989, shareholders have taken over £85.2 billion in dividends. This is money that could’ve gone into fixing pipes, improving sewage treatments and investing in our infrastructure. Instead, capital has been extracted from the system.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
82 per cent of the British public support the public ownership of water — the most cost-effective option for bill payers. But what would it cost?
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In England, nearly all rivers and beaches are polluted, taps run dry and trillions of litres of water are leaked each year. Yet, we pay some of the highest water bills in Europe. Our new report shows how this system is fixable through public ownership. 🧵 www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
Crystal Clear: the Solutions for Clean, Running Water
The clearest and most cost-effective route to genuine public control of England's water is through public ownership.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Labour has already committed to ending the era of “outsourcing by default”. This commitment must be met with action. Our new report outlines the steps needed to make this vital shift. Follow the Insource Now campaign: www.insourcenow.co.uk
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Outsourced workers tend to have lower wages and more insecure working arrangements than those directly employed. RMT research on outsourcing in rail has also shown how much it has driven racial and skill-level segregations in the workforce of train operating companies.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The quality of services has not improved or worsened — The Institute for Government argued that this is due to the fragmentation of services from outsourcing — with a detrimental effect on quality.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We estimate that between 2019/20 and 2023/24 they made £34 billion in revenue and £1.5 billion in operating profits from public contracts alone.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The outsourcing Big Six — Mitie, Serco, OCS, Sodexo, ISS and G4S — the six largest outsourcing monopolies, depend on public contracts for their profits as much as the state depends on them for public service delivery.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The evidence of any of the promised benefits of outsourcing are lacking. In 2014, a report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee concluded that, “[s]o far, the contracting out of services has led to the evolution of privately-owned public monopolies”
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Our analysis finds the outsourcing of public services reached 11 per cent of total public spending, or £128 billion, in 2024/25. Just over a third of outsourcing is in the health and social care sectors.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Today, private companies are involved in everything from collecting bins on behalf of local authorities and early-years childcare to providing school meals and running IT systems for the NHS.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Outsourcing gained momentum in the 1980s as private companies were increasingly contracted to deliver in the public sector. Typically, this began with work not in direct interaction with service users such as IT, building care and cleaning.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We were told outsourcing would transform our public services. But the reality has been far from the pitch. Our new report, in collaboration with @unison.org.uk and @rmtunion.bsky.social, outlines why insourcing is needed across the public sector. www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
Back In-House: The Case for Ending Outsourcing
Government outsourcing has channelled public money into private profit, at the expense of workers’ rights, democratic accountability and service quality. Bringing services back in-house should be the ...
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Reposted by Common Wealth
Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Join @kojokoram.bsky.social and @sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social to discuss who wins and who loses as Britain's relationship with drugs is remade and, as cannabis and psychedelics move towards commercialisation, who really owns the emerging drug economy. luma.com/c672tszx
luma.com
High Society: Winners and Losers in the New Drug Economy with Kojo Koram · Luma
High Society: Winners and Losers in the New Drug Economy Britain is in the grip of a drug crisis. We have one of the highest drug death rates in Europe. More…
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Read the full report here: www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
Unpunished and Undeterred: Corporate Accountability After Grenfell
Legal frameworks governing corporate malpractice are not fit for purpose.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
“Arconic, whose flammable cladding encased the tower, has done more to compensate its shareholders than the survivors and the bereaved”. Our report on corporate accountability after Grenfell — Unpunished and Undeterred — in @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/lab...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Andy Burnham’s great power struggle
The prime minister has a theory of power, its abuses and imbalances. But there is a major gap in his analysis
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
“This isn’t something in the distant past, it’s something that we’re all living with today” Eleanor Shearer on @lbc.co.uk discussing Jamaica’s petition over slavery reparations and the enduring effects of the British Empire.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We make the case for ending for-profit provision and giving local authorities and regional care cooperatives the funding and powers to support the phase out profiteering in the sector. www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
The Outsourcing Premium
What the current crisis in children’s social care tells us about the outsourcing state.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The government recognises that this profiteering is unacceptable but maintains that “there is, and will remain, a place for private profit-making provision” in the sector.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The closure of in-house services due to austerity and increased demand for these services has been exploited by for-profit providers — charging higher rates and making excess profits.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Private equity and institutional investors have become deeply embedded in the sector. One in three fostering places and one in five children’s homes placements are run by private equity or hedge fund owned providers.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Meanwhile, the cost of children’s homes has soared. Weekly costs have risen 64%, adjusted for inflation, since 2016/17, reaching £7,772 in 2024/25. Since 2020, the cost of care placements has risen 20 times faster than the number of children in care has risen.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Since 2020, the four largest independent fostering agencies have paid or reserved £205 million for their shareholders through shareholder loans. This form of financial engineering reduces taxable profits while transferring returns to investors.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
🚨 The Outsourcing Premium The children’s social care sector has become increasingly profitable for private providers. Our new briefing explores how outsourcing has weakened the state’s capacity to provide quality care for children. 🧵 www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
The Outsourcing Premium
What the current crisis in children’s social care tells us about the outsourcing state.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
📍October Gallery, London, WC1N 3AL 🗓️ 16 September ⏰ 7-8PM
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Join @kojokoram.bsky.social and @sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social to discuss who wins and who loses as Britain's relationship with drugs is remade and, as cannabis and psychedelics move towards commercialisation, who really owns the emerging drug economy. luma.com/c672tszx
luma.com
High Society: Winners and Losers in the New Drug Economy with Kojo Koram · Luma
High Society: Winners and Losers in the New Drug Economy Britain is in the grip of a drug crisis. We have one of the highest drug death rates in Europe. More…
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Read our new briefing — A Right to the Sun: How a New Solar Bond Can Cut Bills and Build Energy Security — in full at our website. www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
A Right to the Sun: How a New Solar Bond Can Cut Bills and Build Energy Security
A new solar bond — a low-rate long-term loan from the National Wealth Fund to households — can deliver a rooftop revolution, cutting the cost of energy for millions.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
We need lower rates and longer-term loans. Public finance institutions like the National Wealth Fund should issue long-term loans to households that are close to gilt rates. This would be fiscally neutral and deliver immediate cash flow benefits to households.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Currently, low-income households have been locked out from the benefits of low-cost renewables due to large upfront installation costs. The Government’s Warm Homes Plans aims to subsidise private loans. But unless these loans are lengthened, the benefits won’t be immediate.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
A rooftop “solar gilt” could permanently address the cost of living crisis. The benefits of solar are not dependent upon gas being pushed out of the national wholesale market. The cost-alleviating effects would be felt immediately.
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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
☀️Despite record-breaking heatwaves in the UK, high energy bills & right-wing populist backlash threaten to undermine popular consent for net zero. 🧵 Here’s how we can ensure the financial benefits of low-cost renewables are felt quickly by the public. www.common-wealth.org/publications...
common-wealth.org
A Right to the Sun: How a New Solar Bond Can Cut Bills and Build Energy Security
A new solar bond — a low-rate long-term loan from the National Wealth Fund to households — can deliver a rooftop revolution, cutting the cost of energy for millions.
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Reposted by Common Wealth
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Issue #4: China is coming soon. Subscribe before September 1st to get a free copy of Issue #3: Airborne. www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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