Andy Burnham between a rock and a wet place

 

Greetings! It seems that the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham has got himself between a rock and a wet place on water industry reform in trying to please the shades of opinion in both his party and the country at large. Having had to by-pass the populist option of outright re-nationalisation by simple reason of the fact that our cash-strapped country does not have the money, he has reached for the Mayoral lever proposing that they lead nine regional bodies with powers for state control of these utilities. The problem for our PM is that he is providing the answer to a question that did not need to be asked; to explain that we need to go back to the 1980’s where the seeds of our current predicament were sown. There can be no doubt that the original concept for the privatisation of the water industry was ideological but ultimately it was the dire state of the aging infrastructure and the baked-in assumption that sewage dumping was part of the business model, which the nationalised industries had failed to address for decades, that drove the decision. Either government aka the tax-payer picked up the tab for the hundreds of billions required or the future costs were passed to the private sector who would deploy capital more effectively and recover the cost, with profit, from water users. What was not to like? Unfortunately, those who wrote the 1989 Water Act failed to anticipate the future in three critical spheres. Firstly, the nature of ownership.

Originally, ten regional water companies covering England and Wales were floated on the stock market but today only three remain, the remaining seven de-listed by foreign sovereign wealth funds, private equity, or multi-utility conglomerates. Thames Water, now effectively bankrupt with close to £20bn of debt, is the ultimate poster child for why that change was a bad thing. Why did that happen? Well, Ofwat, one of the two main regulators set up in the wake of privatisation, was not directed by the Blair government of the time to stop the de-listing happening and the original 1989 Act likewise had no mechanism to stop it happening. It is worth noting that the three publicly listed water companies that remain, Severn Trent, United Utilities and the Pennon Group though far from perfect, are generally the best performers in the water industry. The big worry at the time of privatisation was the monopoly of supply being granted to the ten new companies and that they would gouge customers. So part of the Ofwat remit was to set the price regime that the companies were required to follow. The problem with this mechanism was that Ofwat took its instructions from its political masters who, for all the obvious reasons, wanted water prices as low as possible, resulting in a Mexican standoff with water companies declining to spend money on infrastructure because there is no commercial return whilst Ofwat demand that they spend money they do not have on infrastructure. The irony here is that water can, and is for some, an attractive and profitable investment but Ofwat have so completely dug up the pitch that the game cannot be sensibly played.

Finally, the government of 1989 assumed, not unreasonably, that the other main regulator, the National Rivers Authority (now the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales), with the responsibility for monitoring river and environmental pollution would do their job to bring an end to the previously accepted practice of sewage dumping in its many forms. We know, three decades on, how that has turned out. So, the question Burnham seems to have asked is do we need more political oversight of the water industry? He appears to think the answer is yes, but history tells us something different. Nationalisation failed because politics got in the way. Privatisation is failing because politics has messed with the free market model, to the point that it is not working except in the sense that consumers today get water and sewage services on the cheap but at the cost of our tomorrow. Mayoral control will simply perpetuate that failing.

A plague of beetles Nether Wallop is currently under siege to a plague of tiny brown beetles – they are everywhere and quite literally in their millions. Lucy first spotted them about three weeks ago when putting her hand on the bridge handrail to feel it alive, the wood coated like honey dripping from toast by these tiny creatures. In the subsequent weeks we have found them crawling all over the oak of the fishing cabin, massing on the garden furniture and even had to bat them away from the hedgerows when out blackberry picking. Some unfortunate villagers have found them inside their houses.  The plague of beetles upon us!

They seem immune to human interference, simply scuttling away when shooed and certainly not flying. I am pretty sure some have bitten me. What species are they? They are really small, maybe 3mm at most, so hard to identify with any certainty and Google, for once, has failed to offer up a definitive identification. Nor do there seem there seem to be reports of similar outbreaks elsewhere but it is hard to believe this is a uniquely Nether Wallop plague. We think they may be false chinch bug, Nysius cymoide with mass outbreaks reported in Central Europe during the 2025 drought where, in the case of Hungary, they caused severe feeding damage to crops. However, we are far from certain so does anyone else have similar reports or a definitive identification?

Video of the Week You might just like this one from an outfit called Brainrot .... though beware. Once you have seen it you will, in all likelihood, go down the rabbit hole of watching their many other spoofs on our national psyche. By the way, apologies for any offence to carp anglers – I did try to find a fly fishing equivalent but you bait bashers can always mock us via our old mate Hank Patterson. Brainrot people, get to it! Enter the Brainrot rabbit hole here Winter grayling All the intel from the rivers suggests that this might just be a great autumn for grayling – we have been seeing and catching plenty already, plus there is a very good juvenile population which bodes well for the next few years. I must admit I have already scratched my grayling itch this season, though more by accident than design. I was on the Itchen during the mayfly on what should have been the ideal trout day but, despite a steady mayfly hatch, the trout were not playing ball. However, eventually I came across a regularly rising fish on the far bank which, after a few casts, followed my French Partridge back downstream before decisively taking it. Not my grayling!

It was pretty obviously a grayling from the get go, and a big one... so it was a fish I definitely wanted to see up close rather than shaking off as soon as practicable. As I never carry a net, which creates a challenge of its own, I got in the water and let the fish head downstream to bring it down and around the long raft of weed that divided the river. I gradually drew it towards me against the fast current which seemed to placate and soothe the fish. As it came in clear sight this was obviously a really, really big grayling. Head on it was hard to judge its length but it had the broadest shoulders of any grayling I have ever caught and as it turned sideways, the depth as well. Suddenly, I was all of a quiver, that never-bring-a-net thing the daftest plan on the planet. But it really was the doziest of fish, placidly coming to hand in which I grasped the biggest grayling of my lifetime. I had no scales or measure but it was certainly closer to 5lb than 4lb. But before I could consider the options much further, once unhooked it decided on wriggling from my grasp. Was it a British record? Maybe is the best I will venture and it was certainly not the outcome I anticipated at the start of the day but a happy one for all that. Anyway, aside from that diversion you should know that this season we have more grayling beats, on more rivers, than ever before. New is Lower Brook on the River Test and Dunbridge on the River Dun as part of the portfolio of 19 beats on 9 rivers. They are all listed here ….. Mere Literary Festival We had the final Tales at The Mill book event last week which was a great success. I did not realise what a delight it would be to host so many of you to share what I sometimes take rather too much for granted. It is fascinating what memories and recollections people bring to the day and one guest in particular related that he had learnt to fish at Nether Wallop Mill with Dermot Wilson himself back in, we estimated, 1974- so fifty two years and a lifetime of fishing since he was last at The Mill.  With the autumn upon us outdoor festivals are done for the year so I will be moving indoors to the Mere Literary Festival on Monday 12/October where I will be talking primarily about Tales from The Mill but with, no doubt, some side-tracking into my other books and all things chalkstream. Do come along. Tickets and details here …..

Quiz The usual collection of questions based on the date today and random topics touched upon in this Newsletter. Good luck and the answers below. It is just for fun! 1)     What battle took place in England on this day in 1066? 2)     H2O is the chemical formula for water. NaCl is the chemical formula for what other common household product? 3)     Who was the Prime Minister when the water industry in England and Wales was privatised in 1989?

Have a good weekend.  Best wishes,

Simon Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk Founder & Managing Directorwww.fishingbreaks.co.uk

1)     Battle of Stamford Bridge when the English army under King Harold II defeated invading Norwegians. 2)     Table salt 3)     Margaret Thatcher