Dyer and McKenna take water petition to No 10

Danny Dyer, Kevin McKenna (MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey), and SOS Whitstable co-founder Ed Acteson handed a petition calling for public ownership of the water industry to the Prime Minister's office at No 10 at 1pm on Wednesday 14 October 2026. The handover followed a Thames protest against sewage discharges involving a huge inflatable poo sculpture.

Earlier that day, barges traveled along the Thames in a flotilla, with one carrying the inflatable sculpture. Dyer and McKenna sailed beside it during the protest.

People watch the sculpture from a boat. Photo: Ed Acteson, SOS Whitstable

The online petition, Return the Water Industry to Public Ownership, had 352,022 verified signatures on 16 October 2026. Acteson started it on 16 August 2022.

It says: "We call on the government to return the water industry to public ownership." The petition says privatization "has failed and is no longer fit for purpose" and says more than £20 billion has gone to shareholders in dividends since 2010.

Acteson said on 19 October 2026: "Our petition is calling for water in the UK to be returned to public ownership which, we believe, is the only route to ending sewage pollution and restoring our seas and rivers."

On 19 October, Acteson said of the petition: "It currently has over 353,000 signatures, making it one of the largest environmental petitions in UK history, and we feel this reflects the strength of support for this key issue."

Acteson said: "We expect that the government will respond dismissing the idea of public ownership, stating that they are planning to increase public control instead. This is not the same thing and is far short of what's needed."

Acteson said: "As such we will continue to grow the petition and will use it to create as much pressure on Andy Burnham as we can to accept that public ownership is required. If his government do not come round to this approach, we believe it will cost them at the next election." Andy Burnham is the Prime Minister.

Big Ben rises behind the inflatable sculpture. Photo: Ed Acteson, SOS Whitstable

McKenna said: "I think ultimately public ownership is the right thing and certainly what we have to do." He also said: "Danny's been great. He's picked this up and run with it."

McKenna said: "Kent has been right on the front line of the failure of water companies to deliver water and our seas and coasts are right on that front line of seeing what happens when the sewage treatment doesn't work properly."

A Government spokesperson said: "We are bringing in tougher regulation, stronger enforcement and greater accountability, so water companies deliver for customers and the environment." The spokesperson said the Government "will give the public more control and help keep bills as low as possible."

A worker in a yellow vest bends beside the sculpture. Photo: Ed Acteson, SOS Whitstable

Southern Water said its record £8.9bn investment program is tackling pollution's root causes. It said it cut pollution incidents by almost a third from 2023 to 2025. Water UK said it was working to stop sewage discharges "as fast as we possibly can".

SOS Whitstable organized a Stop the Sewage protest in Leysdown-on-Sea on Sunday 20 September 2026 to support the petition. Danny Dyer spoke at the rally, and he and his daughter Dani Dyer joined the protest alongside singer Becky Hill.

A separate Parliament petition calling for a referendum on public ownership of water closed on 1 October 2026 with 213,751 signatures. Ash Smith, founder of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, created it, and MPs debated it on 14 September 2026. In its 23 April 2026 response to that petition, the Government said nationalization "would take years and involve complex legal processes, diverting effort from cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas".