I thought that one of the reasons that the water industry was privatized was that a massive amount of reinvestment was needed to replace leaking water systems - most of the sewer system was still Victorian - and the government couldn't afford to do it....
Successive governments hadn't invested in a long term programme of refurbishment, so much for reinvestment in nationalized industries!
Governments and private companies can both be as bad as each other in terms of what they do with "profits", but at least private companies expect to be around for more than 5 years, and don't try to bribe people with their own money!!
At least in my opinion...
