LONDON — Water firms and campaigners are set to wait until next year to see the full details of Andy Burnham’s plans to overhaul the sector in England.

Britain’s new prime minister has promised greater “public control” of the water industry as a centerpiece of his domestic agenda, partly reversing a wave of privatization that began in the 1980s. Ministers are due to unveil more detail in a “10-year plan for Britain” that is currently expected in December.

However, while this 10-year plan will contain a high-level vision, priorities and principles for the industry’s future, much of the granular detail of how future ownership models will work in practice is only expected later, said two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Some of these key details will be laid out in Chancellor John Healey’s multi-year spending review at some point in 2027, added the two people, who were granted anonymity to discuss evolving policy. One said the spending review — a date for which has not been decided — was where the full details would be “nailed down.”

These include any fiscal implications for the Treasury, which could have to find billions of pounds if ministers decided to transfer privately-owned shares to the public purse.

This appears to mirror an approach Burnham has taken to policymaking for decades, first as a Cabinet minister and then mayor of Greater Manchester before he took over 10 Downing Street in July. He is known for setting out a broad direction which his officials can later use to pin down detailed policy, while also seeking buy-in from private industry.

With a general election due by summer 2029, however, any wait will compress the prime minister’s window to enact far-reaching reform before he goes back to the electorate.

‘£40 being added to every single water bill’

England’s privatized water firms also argue that uncertainty over the sector’s future is damaging investor confidence.

The industry trade association Water UK has said the entire industry risks being downgraded by the credit ratings agency Moody’s, which would add £40 to customers’ annual bills.

Water UK Chief Executive David Henderson urged the government to move ahead with reforms suggested last year by former Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe, before ministers decide the overall path of how the sector is owned.

The Cunliffe report “was given to the government 15 months ago and the credit rating agencies are watching,” Henderson told POLITICO. “If the government doesn’t pretty soon decide what it wants to do with that report, then we risk a downgrade, as Moody’s has indicated. And if there’s a downgrade, that would sadly see £40 being added to every single water bill across England and Wales. That’s the last thing anybody wants.”

He added: “We still have no idea how [a proposed] new regulator will look, what status it will have, what its duties will be, which parts of the Environment Agency will stay in the Environment Agency, and which parts will go into the new regulator. That is causing uncertainty … an important consideration for any investor.”

One government official insisted the 10-year plan would contain some finer details of plans to overhaul the water industry, though they accepted that fiscal implications were always dealt with in fiscal events such as the spending review. 

Environment Secretary Angela Eagle is also due to bring a water bill to parliament before Christmas with separate policy, such as closing what Burnham has called “loopholes used to pay excessive bonuses” to water company executives. It will also contain scrutiny powers for regional mayors.

Burnham announced last month that the bill would lift a ban on the government owning more than 3% of shares in any English water firm. But he has also long made clear that he would not fully nationalize the industry, a move the government previously estimated would cost £100 billion for England and Wales together.

First Secretary of State Louise Haigh, one of Burnham’s most powerful allies in government, is leading three task forces including one on public control of water alongside housing, energy and transport.

Officials have been working through a “spectrum of options” for how public control in the water sector will look, a second government official said. They added that ministers are due to begin deciding which option — or combination of options — will be taken forward before the 10-year plan.

France called on Israeli authorities to take “all necessary measures” to “stop these acts of terror” following an attack by masked Israeli settlers against European diplomats in the West Bank on Saturday.

In a statement issued Sunday, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “France calls on the Israeli authorities to arrest the perpetrators of this extremely serious assault and bring them to justice.

“Furthermore, the Israeli authorities must take all necessary measures to put an end to these acts of terror and to ensure the safety of civilian populations and diplomatic missions, as they are obligated to do under international law.”

The incident took place in Taybeh, a mainly Christian town north of Jerusalem, where diplomats and other officials from France, Poland and Belgium were watching local people harvest olives. Video footage of the attack showed settlers confronting a convoy of diplomats and a man wearing a French tricolor sash slumped beside a car.

“The mayor of the commune of Aulnoye-Aymeries was violently assaulted by extremist settlers in the West Bank,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on X, adding that that Israel “must urgently put an end to these criminal acts.”

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxim Prévot said that in addition to the assault on the French mayor, a Belgian vehicle was damaged in the incident. He added that “Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring those responsible to justice,” and said Belgium “will continue to press for EU sanctions against those responsible for this violence and those who support them.”

On Sunday morning, an EU spokesperson said that the bloc “strongly condemns” the attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank, “including on European diplomats.”

The spokesperson added: “We take positive note of statements by several Israeli representatives who condemned the attacks but we expect full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians, including during the ongoing olive harvest season, as well as against journalists.”

Writing on X, the Israel Defense Forces strongly condemned “the severe act of violence that took place in the area of Taybeh, during which diplomatic representatives were attacked by Israeli rioters.”

The IDF added that “according to a preliminary inquiry, no IDF soldiers were present at the scene at the time of the attack”.

However, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged caution “before drawing conclusions” from reports of the attack, while noting that “any violence against diplomats is unacceptable.”

Independent Łukasz Gibała won Kraków’s mayoral runoff on Sunday, defeating a candidate backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and handing Poland’s governing Civic Coalition a setback in the country’s second-largest city.

Gibała secured 62.12% of the vote against 37.88% for Senator Monika Piątkowska, according to the official results. Turnout was 44.27%.

The result follows the removal of Mayor Aleksander Miszalski, backed by Civic Coalition, in a May referendum.

“The people of Kraków have just regained their city! Now let’s put aside our differences and show that we can work together,” Gibała said, appearing to acknowledge that he will have to cooperate with Civic Coalition and its national coalition partner, the Left party, which together control 23 of the city council’s 43 seats.

This was Gibała’s fourth shot at the mayoralty. A local councilor and former national lawmaker, Gibała narrowly lost to Miszalski in 2024 in his previous attempt.

This time around, he campaigned on breaking with the political establishment, riding a wave of public discontent over Kraków’s huge debt and attempts to establish a low-emissions zone.

Gibała won the Sept. 27 first round with 36.4% ahead of Piątkowska on 29.9%. The candidate of the main opposition Law and Justice party finished third with 17.5%.

Piątkowska, backed by Civic Coalition, tried to distance herself from Miszalski while arguing that close ties with the national government would benefit Kraków, pop. 800,000.

Nationally, Civic Coalition remains ahead in opinion polls, but current voting intentions suggest that Tusk’s coalition will fall short of a majority in scheduled fall parliamentary elections.

Two October surveys listed by polling aggregator ewybory.eu put Civic Coalition at 31.9%, Law and Order at 17.7%, the far-right Confederation at 14% and another far-right grouping, the Confederation of the Polish Crown, at 8.3%.

Of Civic Coalition’s three government allies, only the Left, at 7%, would exceed the 5% threshold for parliamentary representation, dimming the administration’s prospects of retaining power.

This article has been updated to include the official results.

Voters in the Peruvian town of Queropalca have chosen their new mayor: Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores.

The unusually named candidate for the center-left Ahora Nación party won 34% of the vote. According to local media, the top three candidates were separated by just 42 votes.

Simeon’s candidate application form gives few details (and none about his name), apart from the fact that he manages the Simeon Sac Investment Group.

There have been other politicians called Hitler. In 2018, also in Peru, Hitler beat Lenin in another mayoral race for the district of Yúngar, when Hitler Guesclin Alba Sánchez defeated Lenin Vladimir Rodríguez Valverde.

“I’m the good Hitler,” Alba told broadcasters on the campaign trail, local media reported.

In Namibia, Adolf Hitler Uunona last year won his fifth local election in a row. “As a child I saw it as a totally normal name,” he told the BBC.