Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
2 of 21 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
68/100
BBC News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
- Published
A cross-party committee of MPs has urged the government to reject a £10bn takeover proposal from Thames Water's creditors.
asserted
committee → publish → creditors
The UK's biggest water company owes roughly £20bn and has been working with creditors and government officials.
asserted
company → owe → creditors
A report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has now said the government should consider placing it into special administration, a form of temporary nationalisation.
asserted
government → say → nationalisation
A Thames Water spokesperson said it needed to be "recapitalised and put on a firm financial footing".
asserted
it → say → footing
Fears that the firm, which serves 16 million customers, could collapse first emerged three years ago.
uncertain
which → serve → customers
The committee said a takeover plan by a consortium of more than 100 of its creditors did not have "the interests of the public, the company or the environment at heart".
asserted
plan → say → heart
The plan was seen as the final realistic option to avoid a special administration regime, after a previous deal with a US private equity giant collapsed.
asserted
deal → see → giant
Creditors, who collectively own about £17bn of Thames Water's debt, were previously warned by former environment secretary Emma Reynolds their plan did not go far enough to protect customers or the environment.
asserted
plan → own → customers
The new report said Thames Water, alongside other "poor-performing" water companies, was in a "doom loop" of fines for poor performance leaving it with less money to invest in improvements.
asserted
Water → say → improvements
'Chaos'
It warned the company would "likely accrue" more than £900m in penalties over the next five years.
asserted
company → warn → years
The committee said laws needed to change to allow the government to trigger a special administration on performance grounds alone.
asserted
government → say → grounds
It also warned the top priority for the bidders, called London & Valley Water, was to "extract immediate value from Thames Water, not steer it to long-term success".
asserted
priority → warn → success
Alistair Carmichael, chairman of the committee, said: "We believe Thames Water can be turned around, but not by giving the keys back to the people who have been joy riding in the family car.
"
asserted
who → say → car
The government should reject offers from the company's creditors in return for relief from fines for pollution and poor service."
asserted
government → reject → pollution
Carmichael said "liabilities that the government will face in the short-term" could be recouped by a future sale of Thames Water once its finances and performance are back on track.
uncertain
finances → say → track
He added: "The chaos of another Thames Water-style saga must not be repeated."
asserted
chaos → add → saga
A spokesman for London & Valley Water said: "This group of investors has never been in control of the company and has never received a dividend from Thames Water.
"
asserted
group → say → Water
They have stepped in to fund a significant revenue shortfall to ensure Thames Water's record capital investment programme can continue without disruption."
asserted
programme → step → disruption
He added: "Our enhanced proposal will address all feedback from Ofwat and ministers and is the fastest route to fix Thames Water's complex problems."
asserted
proposal → add → problems
A Thames Water spokesperson said: "Turning Thames Water around will take a decade and require significant and sustained investment, but we are already making progress and this is a different business from the one it was two years ago."
asserted
it → say → one
They added: "Anything that delays the recapitalisation risks slowing the turnaround, disrupting investment and increasing the cost of delivering the improvements our customers and the environment need."
asserted
customers → add → improvements
The Aporia
