Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column

Thames Water’s fate now sounds like a dripping timebomb

There are few more irritating sounds than that of a dripping tap you cannot fix. That, writ large, is the headache facing the Labour government as it nears the endgame in the race to save Thames Water as a solvent, standalone company.

On one reading, my scoop this week that Steve Reed, the environment secretary, has signed off the appointment of restructuring experts at FTI Consulting to advise on contingency planning for a special administration of Britain’s biggest water company merely looks like prudent preparatory work.

Another interpretation is that Reed and his Cabinet colleagues are using those preparations to ho

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