The tide is turning on Thames Water: special administration looks best | Nils Pratley

It is still not totally clear what the government wants but the political mood seems to be shifting towards a decision

• Thames Water nationalisation moves closer as government objects to rescue deal

At last, Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, has opined on the future of Thames Water. So what’s it to be? A takeover by the company’s creditors? Special administration, which would allow anyone to pitch up with an offer while the state temporarily funds the company? Or even a quick flush to full nationalisation?

Well, two years after Thames’s shareholders walked away, and 18 months after the creditors opened talks with regulator Ofwat on the terms on a potential recapitalisation, one still can’t say definitively what the government wants. But we do have a better idea: the political mood seems to be shifting firmly towards administration.