[ahartmetz]

Maybe they are now (I doubt it), but they surely weren't under Thatcher.

[overfeed]

The Tories decided to flank Farage from the right during the last elections. Calling them "centre-left" is a joke.

[qcnguy]

Correct. But by "decades" I meant in the 40 years since Thatcher.

[cma]

Water was privatized in the 90s after Thatcher.

[happymellon]

The pipes that "are Victorian and should have been replaced before privatisation" were around before then.

They have had plenty of time to replace them.