28 Oct 2026
Nearly 30,000 of you have signed our petition calling on Andy Burnham to block the Thames Water bailout. THANK YOU.
This Thursday Cat and Sophie will be handing in the petition to water regulator Ofwat’s headquarters in Birmingham.
Can you be part of making this petition hand-in a moment which Andy Burnham can’t ignore?
Andy Burnham is known for being active on social media. Can you make sure he hears JUST how strongly people feel about blocking this bailout by taking action on social media?
Here’s how you can take part on Thursday 29th October:
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Take a picture of you with a blank cheque OR write ‘I am not a blank cheque for water companies’ on a piece of paper
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Post the picture on social media alongside the text we’ve written below - feel free to edit!
Don’t have social media? You can still take part!
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Send your picture to info@weownit.org.uk and we can post the image on social media for you!
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Please also send your picture and a message directly to Andy Burnham using his parliamentary email address - andy.burnham.mp@parliament.uk
Copy and paste text for your social media posts:
Facebook:
I am not a blank cheque! Today, Thames Water’s creditors are deciding whether to hand over a £2.4 billion bailout. Rewarding water companies for their failure will affect billpayers like me across the country, during a cost of living crisis. @AndyBurnham you must block the bailout and let them go bust! @WeOwnIt
NB: Make sure you click on the @AndyBurnham and @WeOwnIt tags and select the profiles so that the tag works properly!
Bluesky:
I am not a blank cheque! Thames Water’s creditors are deciding whether to hand over a £2.4 billion bailout. Rewarding water companies for their failure will affect billpayers like me across the country. @andyburnham.bsky.social you must block the bailout and let them go bust! @weownit.org.uk
Twitter (formerly X):
I am not a blank cheque! Today, Thames Water’s creditors are deciding whether to hand over a £2.4 billion bailout. Rewarding water companies for their failure will affect billpayers like me across the country, during a cost of living crisis. @andyburnham you must block the bailout and let them go bust! @We_OwnIt
Instagram:
I am not a blank cheque! Today, Thames Water’s creditors are deciding whether to hand over a £2.4 billion bailout. Rewarding water companies for their failure will affect billpayers like me across the country, during a cost of living crisis. @andy.burnham you must block the bailout and let them go bust! @weownit_campaign
THE CONTEXT:
This Thursday, Thames Water’s creditors have a deadline.
They need to decide whether to hand over a £2.4 billion loan to keep the utility afloat for another 12 months.
The stakes are high. The £3 billion bailout which was agreed in February 2025 had an interest rate of 9.75% - and it cost customers £250 a year each.
Just this Summer, Andy Burnham said that billpayers should not be treated like a ‘blank cheque’ by water companies. Going ahead with this bailout would do just that.
By blocking this bailout, we can protect billpayers from another eyewateringly expensive loan.
And you can be part of sending a message to water companies across the country - shareholders and creditors cannot expect to profit from their failure at our expense.
Even BIGGER than that - by blocking the bailout, we can push Thames Water towards insolvency, and force this government to bring it into special administration.
From there, we can take it into permanent public ownership, and set a new precedent for ownership of our water across England and Wales.
The momentum behind blocking the bailout has already been HUGE. Nearly 30,000 of you have already signed the petition, calling on Andy Burnham to Block the Bailout. THANK YOU!
Cat and Sophie will be handing in this petition to water regulator Ofwat on Thursday 29th October, as the creditors make their final decision. They’ll also be posting a printed copy of the signatures directly to Andy Burnham.
