Richard Madeley Tears Into Ofwat Boss Over ‘Fat Cat Bonuses’ and Skyrocketing Water Bills
Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley didn’t hold back during a heated interview with Ofwat’s Price Review Director Chris Walters, following the announcement that water bills in the UK are set to rise by 36% over the next five years.
As Chris began explaining the decision behind the steep hikes, Richard interjected sharply, saying: “Can I just cut in? Look, I appreciate that your job this morning is to dance on the head of a pin. I notice that you speak consistently about the present and the future. You simply, as head of Ofwat, will not address what you guys let happen in the past”, reported by the Manchester Evening News.
Richard accused Ofwat of failing to regulate the water industry effectively, allowing bosses to collect huge bonuses while shareholders received large dividends. He stated: “What you did was to supervise an industry and allow it, year after year after year after year, to pay fat cat bosses— I think that’s a reasonable use of that expression— huge bonuses, large dividends to the shareholders, and you allowed them to asset strip.”
The discussion grew even more intense as Richard highlighted the Southern region, where bills are expected to rise by over 50%, calling the water system a “car crash.” He argued that the current setup for providing clean water and maintaining rivers and oceans was beyond repair.
“It’s a crashed car, and it can’t be fixed, and we need a completely new system. There’s nothing you can do to fix it now, it’s too far gone,” Richard added.
Attempting to defend Ofwat, Chris Walters explained that the regulator’s role is to scrutinize proposals and ensure they provide fair value for money while holding water companies accountable. He responded: “Government and environmental regulators are holding companies to higher standards, rightly so.”
However, Richard was unrelenting, cutting in once again to challenge Chris for failing to address the mistakes of the past. “You simply won’t address the past. The past is important because we’re here where we are now because of your failures of the past,” Richard fired back.
Chris attempted to clarify that Ofwat had done its job in scrutinizing proposals over the years, saying: “That is what we have done, we have done our job.” But Richard, unimpressed, could be heard in the background saying firmly, “You failed.”
The tense exchange left viewers with the clear impression that Madeley was unwilling to let the regulator off the hook, holding Ofwat accountable for what he described as years of mismanagement and public neglect.