Jeremy Corbyn blasts Streatham MP Steve Reed over Thames Water ownership at Your Party assembly

At Sunday evening’s packed Your Party assembly in Peckham, independent MP Jeremy Corbyn turned his fire on Streatham MP and cabinet minister Steve Reed. Reed had recently dismissed public ownership of Thames Water as too costly. Corbyn however, pointed out the privatised water industry’s £72bn in shareholder dividends and executive pay, as household water bills sky-rocket. With leaks and sewage spills at record levels, the Your Party co-founder called pollution “the real price of greed and privatisation” and told the crowd it was “time to take over Thames Water” and bring it into community ownership.

The assembly was part of a nationwide series of member‑led meetings where paid‑up supporters debated and amended drafts of the party’s constitution, standing orders, political statement and one‑year organising strategy in preparation for finalising them at the Liverpool founding conference later this month.

After the closed session, South London artist Audrey Corno, recently released from prison, opened the evening rally. She explained that activists in the Prisoners for Palestine network would begin a hunger strike on 2 November, the 108th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, to protest harsh bail conditions and censorship. Corno urged support for demands including fair trials, an end to mail and visit restrictions, and the closure of the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. Her call for an end to the proscription of Palestine Action received a particularly warm and rousing cheer.

Eleanor Davies of the National Education Union spoke at length about how teachers and support staff have suffered 20 % real‑terms pay cuts since 2010, how school budgets in Southwark, Lewisham and Lambeth have been slashed, and how gentrification is driving families out of London. She told the crowd that Your Party offers a unique chance to unite the left and create a socialist movement rooted in communities.

A number of Transport for London employees then spoke about the human impact of tightened student‑visa rules and rapidly changing income thresholds for migrants legally to remain in the UK. They argued that defending migrant rights is inseparable from defending union rights. Corbyn would later call on the crowd to join a demonstration at Downing Street in support of these workers and vowed to attend.

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