Northern Ireland Water exemplifies the crisis engulfing the water industry. The company is spewing(喷出，大量排放) over 20m tonnes of untreated sewage and waste into waterways every year. This deluge(洪水，大量湧来之物) has helped coat Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the British Isles, in toxic blue-green algae. Developers claim that they have put on hold(暂停，搁置) plans for building 15,000 homes because sewers cannot handle more waste.
北爱尔兰水务公司是席卷水务行业危机的典型。该公司每年向水道排放超过2000万吨未经处理的污水和废物。这股洪流使得不列颠群岛最大的湖——内伊湖——覆盖了有毒的蓝绿藻。开发商声称，由于下水道无法处理更多废物，他们已搁置了建造1.5万套住房的计划。
Britons are right to be angry. In England a raw-sewage spill(未经处理的污水泄漏) is reported roughly every two minutes. Surfers avoid certain beaches for fear of infections. Water bills rose by 26% in 2025 and consumers pay more for electricity than almost anywhere else in Europe. Small wonder that irate(极其愤怒的) mothers have taken to performing citizen’s arrest(公民逮捕)s of water executives.
英国人有理由愤怒。在英格兰，大约每两分钟就报告一次未经处理的污水泄漏事件。冲浪者因害怕感染而避开某些海滩。水费在2025年上涨了26%，消费者支付的电价比欧洲几乎任何地方都高。难怪愤怒的母亲们开始对水务公司高管进行公民逮捕。
Left-wing politicians have seized on(抓住（机会、话题）) the discontent. As part of a push to expand public ownership, from steel to rail, they blame the utilities’ troubles on privatisation dating back to the 1980s. Zack Polanski, the Green Party’s leader, revs up his base(激发其支持者热情) by complaining how a third of each water bill goes to paying firms’ dividends and servicing their debt. Andy Burnham, the front-runner to become the next Labour prime minister, promises to bring water and energy “under stronger public control”, though he stays cagey(含糊其辞的，谨慎的) about what that means. The public agrees: 70% back nationalising energy and 82% water, according to YouGov, a pollster (see chart 1).
左翼政客抓住了这种不满。为了推动从钢铁到铁路的公有制扩张，他们将公用事业的麻烦归咎于20世纪80年代开始的私有化。绿党领袖扎克·波兰斯基通过抱怨每笔水费中有三分之一用于支付公司股息和服务其债务来激发他的支持者。有望成为下一任工党首相的安迪·伯纳姆承诺将水和能源“置于更强的公共控制之下”，尽管他对具体含义含糊其辞。公众也同意：根据民调机构YouGov的数据，70%的人支持能源国有化，82%支持水国有化（见图表1）。
Wrong diagnosis…
错误的诊断……
…will only add to the pain
……只会加剧痛苦