Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, argues that Scotland's decision to keep water in public ownership offers a model England should have followed, contrasting it with the ongoing crisis in England's privatised water industry. She highlights recent controversy over soaring executive pay at English water firms alongside rising bills, illegal sewage discharges and the near-insolvency of companies such as Thames Water, arguing this stems from privatisation prioritising shareholder returns over public interest since Margaret Thatcher privatised the sector in 1989.

She cites figures showing English water companies paid £57bn in dividends between 1991 and 2019, while chief executives and finance directors were paid a combined £25.3m last year across 14 firms. By contrast, Scottish Water, which remained publicly owned, invested 35% more per household in infrastructure between 2002 and 2019, charges 14% less, pays no dividends, and reinvests profits into infrastructure; its free public water station scheme has dispensed the equivalent of 15m plastic bottles since 2018. Sridhar also references England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty's warnings about sewage-related public health risks, framing clean water as a fundamental public health necessity rather than a political extravagance.