As Andy Burnham prepares to be confirmed as prime minister, attention has turned to what he might do about Britain's troubled water and energy utilities. Advisers in his camp favour renewed public ownership of regional monopolies, and insiders suggest he is weighing a 10-year programme to take control of "the essentials of life". This matters because it signals a possible shift away from the privatised utilities model, worrying industry firms while cheering campaigners such as Feargal Sharkey, who calls water privatisation a "catastrophic disaster".

Burnham's team stresses "more public control", a phrase that could mean anything from full nationalisation to tougher regulation. Analysts note major obstacles: expropriating assets for nothing would frighten government lenders, while buying companies at "fair value" is costly and legally complex, with the sector's nationalisation estimated at around £100bn. Some, like Oxford's Dieter Helm, suggest a Manchester-style model where the state controls without owning, or local regulators for river catchments. Meanwhile, Burnham faces an urgent decision over Thames Water, the near-collapsed supplier to 16 million customers.