For once, ‘Labour source’ has it right:
“The problem with the answers coming from the populists isn’t that they’re ‘not sensible’, it’s that they’re not radical enough,” one Labour source said. “Price controls and handouts actually accept the premise that things can’t be fundamentally changed. The truly radical thing is taking on why the system is broken in the first place. Why can’t we build homes? Why is energy so expensive? Why do many workers pay a higher marginal tax rate than a landlord?
“Voters aren’t turning to Reform and the Greens because they’re becoming ‘extreme’. They’re, fairly, concluding that the mainstream offer is managed decline and they’d rather roll the dice. The answer is to put forward something genuinely bolder that really changes things for them.”
Some of it could be clawed back if those responsible were actually held accountable
Those responsible are foreign nationals, and regulators. Fining ofwat is just fining the country, and individual people at ofwat can’t cover the price.
It’s gone. It sucks but it’s a fact.
Then punish one of the enablers. Make an example that anyone who is happy to make those kind of deals will face financial repercussions.