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Feargal Sharkey has slammed Labour’s failures over the water sector while backing Andy Burnham to “step up to the plate”.
The former Undertones star announced his support for Mr Burnham, who is hoping to win a crunch by-election next week and trigger a leadership challenge to replace Keir Starmer.

The Greater Manchester Mayor hinted last week that he could bring in a 10-year plan to renationalise the water industry, saying reform is needed to put the public interest first. Speaking at a protest on Tuesday demanding the nationalisation of the sector, Mr Sharkey said: “Andy understands this country is in a terrible mess right now. The leadership of the government and the Labour Party has failed. This is not just about the future of the water industry. It’s about the future of the country we all live in. It is about the Labour party and right now we need the grown adults in the room so we can figure out all three of those things.”

The singer added: “So Andy, right now, my friend, step up to the plate, everybody’s right behind you, but the first task, we need to get you elected, and then we all need to have a big conversation about the country we would like the UK to become, not just what it can be. Those are two very different things.

“Andy and I go back a long way and if I know anything about anything… I personally, I will be holding Andy to account for the decisions and the comments that he’s made.”

Mr Burnham has said he would not advocate nationalising the whole water industry in one go due to complexity and expense, but suggested a staggered approach.

Clean water campaigner Mr Sharkey, whose hits include Teenage Kicks with the Undertones and A Good Heart as a solo artist, said he would put every single water company in the country on the list to be nationalised in “a heartbeat”.

He joined stars of Channel 4’s documentary Dirty Business, Ash Smith and Peter Hammond, and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, to hand in a petition to the Environment Department (Defra).

Their letter to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds outlines the ways in which the government’s arguments for continued privatisation “fall short”.

Speaking after handing in the note, Mr Smith said: “They don’t like to listen to the public so we’ve sent in a massive letter to call for the Secretary of State and the Water Minister to stop the lies coming out of Defra.

“It’s not acceptable to say it’s going to take years to take water into public ownership because that is a lie. It is not acceptable to say it’s going to stop any improvements being made to take water into public ownership because that’s the biggest lie of all.

“We’ve had 26 years of privatised water stopping improvements in our water system. This is about the people taking back control – not just allowing big money to have the ear of government. They’ve got to have the ear of the people. The people are the ones who vote for the government and they’ve got to represent them. That’s democracy, not what we’re seeing at the moment.”

A Defra spokeswoman said: “Nationalisation is not the answer. It would cost taxpayers £100 billion and take years to unpick the current ownership model, during which investment would dry up and sewage pollution into our rivers would get worse.

“This government has taken swift action to hold water companies to account. Our once-in-a-generation reforms will establish a new, single regulator with more teeth and greater powers to drive transparency including MOT-style checks on water company assets and ‘no notice’ inspections to rebuild customer trust and protect the environment.”