Nationalisation..

People are so blasé about money in this country. They wouldn’t stand in front of a grid and pour pound coins down it for minutes on end, but they may as well.

It’s the same with football. So many people defend football clubs for the prices they charge, many people never got involved in the FSF’s “Twenty Is Plenty” campaign and never moved a muscle in getting way tickets capped at £30. People have got so used to City taking the piss with ticket prices going up every year that they just see it as a normal thing but then wonder why we don’t sell out Wembley for the Community Shield or FA Cup semis.

It’s the same with everything. I don’t know what it is about people in this country but many just pull their pants down and bend over ready for people to give them a right seeing to up the ricker when it comes to money. Food, travel costs, gas electric water, tax, insurance... they don’t say or do owt about it and just pay the rises like they’re a fact of life.
I applaud your post, especially the use of the word "ricker".
 
It is quite odd that the majority of our trains are operated by subsidiaries of foreign nationalised railways.

So in effect, the Government says it's OK for (say) the German state railways to run our trains, but not the British state railways. You may see the logic in this, but I'm damned if I can.

Where we went wrong in this country is when we decided that private is always best. (Even when it isn't really private.) The private sector is very good at running some stuff, but absolutely shit at running others. Unfortunately we seem to be tied hand and foot with stupid political dogma, when pragmatic solutions would be so much better.
 
Where we went wrong in this country is when we decided that private is always best. (Even when it isn't really private.) The private sector is very good at running some stuff, but absolutely shit at running others. Unfortunately we seem to be tied hand and foot with stupid political dogma, when pragmatic solutions would be so much better.
Indeed, it's the dogma that's the problem. The idea that nationalizing things will automatically improve things is clearly bollocks, but then so is the idea that it will ruin services. There are plenty of countries with shit nationalized railways and good privately run ones, and vice-versa. But it should definitely be an option, which it isn't. For example, if the Northern franchise comes up for renewal and the only bid is from the fuck ups that are currently running it, then having a government-owned franchise should definitely be an option. I also think that government owning and running the infrastructure itself is probably a good idea. Or if not, at least the government having a controlling stake in the private company that does so. The thing that pisses people off more than anything with utilities and infrastructure is when companies are demonstrably doing a shit job and yet are somehow still able to raise prices, cut investment and give their shareholders a juicy bonus because they have no real competition. I feel like the government being able to veto dividends to shareholders or bonuses to executives in companies that are clearly fucking up public services would be a extremely valuable.
 
Having worked on the railway for 26 years, I can only say that what was once a coherent and cohesive system when nationalised, and was run in the interests of the nation, has become something quite different.

Not every aspect of privatisation has been negative, of course, however, on balance I would prefer BRITISH RAIL to Branson rail (sic).

However cohesive and coherent a system is, it doesn't mean it is better or works well. I have only heard bad things about British Rail. We could nationalise the system at massive cost and it could end up absolutely awful.

I think it will fail either way because no matter how many billions the politicians promise, politicians are politicians and not railway operators. I can only look at who will be running it and know with absolute certainty as to how bad it will be.

Would you put Jeremy Corbyn or John Mcdonnell in charge of a nuclear reactor? This is precisely however what these soviet-esque dinosaurs would do because their purpose isn't nationalisation to make our lives better, their purpose is absolute state control.

State control to them is far more important than you getting to work on time.
 
Thread title should properly be Renationalization - all the targets are intended to be brought back into public ownership. Question is how to avoid the same problems that led to their earlier demise.

Demise?
What was the demise in the gas industry or water industry?
Half of them were flogged by the bastard Tories to their mates to make money from.
 
Thread title should properly be Renationalization - all the targets are intended to be brought back into public ownership. Question is how to avoid the same problems that led to their earlier demise.

Demise?

British rail had it's funding cut and left to get old and ineficient.
Water, we had a national waterway, got sold off and spilt up, the newly private southern water sold off several reservoirs and made profits off the land, unfortunately this meant in any heatwave they struggle with drought and have to buy water from us up north, and also filled in ressers cause issues during flooding.
Nearly every country has a national owned airline or at least a stake in it.
British steel if fucked now.

Also on a local level look ay the state of manchesters fucked up bus system
 
It is quite odd that the majority of our trains are operated by subsidiaries of foreign nationalised railways.

So in effect, the Government says it's OK for (say) the German state railways to run our trains, but not the British state railways. You may see the logic in this, but I'm damned if I can.

Where we went wrong in this country is when we decided that private is always best. (Even when it isn't really private.) The private sector is very good at running some stuff, but absolutely shit at running others. Unfortunately we seem to be tied hand and foot with stupid political dogma, when pragmatic solutions would be so much better.


 
These foreign power companies do know how to run a power company whereas Corbyn and his cohorts, together, couldn't run a whelk stall, hopefully we'll never find out.


They do .......take EDF for example (Owned by the French government)


1) They are an electricity manufacturer
2) They wholly own an electricity distributor called RTE.
3) They own another company that is responsible for billing / collection and call centre enquiries.


Each company has to stand on its own two feet and make a profit. If the UK government tries to cap the end price to the customer then they simply increase the price either in production or Customer service and pass it on.


Simple
 

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