HOW right of North West water industry watchdog Anthony Goldstone to complain today that shareholders in the privatised mega-monopoly United Utilities are more interested in share prices, profits and pay than in the level of service consumers receive.

And how apt that his remarks came as they spent most of the company's annual meeting today debating a bonus scheme that could nearly double the already enormous basic salaries of its "fat cat" bosses.

True, the howls of protest over the executives' pay are laced with lots of envy.

But if there was to be any justice in these salary levels - presently in the £300,000 bracket before perks - then, surely, shareholders would apply a little more of Mr Goldstone's yardstick.

For if the bosses' rewards were more related to how much water was available to users, to how much it cost, to how much was wasted through leaks and to how clean the company left our rivers and beaches - the issues that concern the customers - then there would we think be far less protest over pay if a decent job was being done. Not so, however - the measure is related to how well the bosses perform in pouring profits into shareholders' pockets and how well they hold up the company's share price.

Yet, though Mr Goldstone and protesting pressure group members are right to complain, the real concern is that, really, this is all they can do.

For privatisation of this vital industry turned the tables completely round.

Customers are given virtually no say any more over the service they receive and the ethos of the business has been switched from that of an accountable public service to that of a purely profit-driven concern.

This was totally predictable when the government first announced the privatisation of this most vital of public utilities.

There has got to be a re-ordering of these priorities.

And there is a huge fund of unrest waiting to be tapped by the political party that pledges to do that.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.