Andy Burnham is facing legal action before he even steps foot in No. 10 Downing Street, according to Sky News. The rolling news channel was halted this morning (July 18) for a breaking alert, with anchor Anna Jones explaining: “We’ve got some breaking news about Thames Water. Let’s bring in our city editor Mark Kleinman on this. Mark, what have you discovered?”
Kleinman went on to explain: “What I can reveal this morning is that the group of investors which are engaged in a rescue bid for Thames Water are drawing up plans for a multi-billion pound legal fight with Andy Burnham’s new government, if it decides to forcibly nationalise Britain’s biggest water company.
“Now I understand that the London Valley Water Consortium, which includes some of the world’s biggest fund managers, has engaged a specialist litigation law firm called Pallas Partners to help plot a legal fight with the government, if its offer for the company is rejected.
“The consortium controls about £17billion of Thames Water’s debt, and has been working on plans for over a year to take full control of the company.
“The alternative to that would be a process called a special administration regime, which is a form of temporary public ownership, and that would see the investors’ debt wiped out with no return for them.”
He added: “This latest development that I can reveal this morning suggests that there is a very realistic prospect of a very large legal fight over the future of Britain’s biggest water company.”
