The Conservative Party

Ifwecouldjust....... said:
They should be allowed to go under and then taken into state ownership.
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How can they have so much debt while paying dividends? By borrowing money from shareholders who get the interest and dividends. The Abu Dhabi wealth fund owns 9.9% of Thames Water.

I suppose when the model is a private monopoly with a captive market, no-one could have guessed this might happen, even if the Tories said it was the only way to get the investment to replace Victorian infrastructure. And no-one could have predicted it might rain a lot.
 
Fred_Quimby said:
Still at it. The final throws of this government and still giving honours to mates.

www.bbc.co.uk

Mohamed Mansour: Rishi Sunak faces criticism after Tory donor given knighthood

Businessman Mohamed Mansour has been given a knighthood, along with Mark Spencer and Philip Davies.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
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If a bank holiday was thought to be a good time to release this, well done, as it's headline news. It is true, Sunak really is bad at politics. Most PMs do their resignation honours after their resignation.
 
Vic said:
If a bank holiday was thought to be a good time to release this, well done, as it's headline news. It is true, Sunak really is bad at politics. Most PMs do their resignation honours after their resignation.
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So rushed that he must know something is afoot.
 
BayernMan said:
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For all her many faults, I think Thatcher was a pretty honest person, and more capable of introspection than those Tory PMs that have followed Cameron (although less than John Major on both counts I would say).

I did wonder a few days ago if she could cast her eyes upon the dysfunctional mess that we are now burdened with as a nation from much of her privatisation, the most egregious unquestionably being the water companies, not least because it was arguably the least justifiable given the manifest lack of choice available to consumers, and the impact they are having in on the environment (something she appeared to care about more than any of her successors) and whether she would accept the terrible mistake she made.

To me it encapsulates how capitalism is no longer working for the common good, as I feel it once was. At least not in this country.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
For all her many faults, I think Thatcher was a pretty honest person, and more capable of introspection than those Tory PMs that have followed Cameron (although less than John Major on both counts I would say).

I did wonder a few days ago if she could cast her eyes upon the dysfunctional mess that we are now burdened with as a nation from much of her privatisation, the most egregious unquestionably being the water companies, not least because it was arguably the least justifiable given the manifest lack of choice available to consumers, and the impact they are having in on the environment (something she appeared to care about more than any of her successors) and whether she would accept the terrible mistake she made.

To me it encapsulates how capitalism is no longer working for the common good, as I feel it once was. At least not in this country.
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I am wholly prepared to be believe that in Thatcher's case she didn't factor in the way the financial markets and actors within them would evolve. Did she envisage the rise and business model of a Macquarie Group? I suspect not or if she did she probably though she could 'sort them out'. In this I would give her the benefit of the doubt, though I absolutely would not to some of those advising her. Her zeal came with a degree of gullibility.

This I think is at the heart of our challenge, people bang on about the efficiency of the private sector versus the public which having work extensively with both I think is mostly bollocks. Where the private sector really runs rings around the public domain is in the ability of their leaders to pursue their own respective agendas. The version of capitalism we see in many countries now is one increasingly decided upon and controlled by oligarchy, imo we are sliding or maybe have slid into a slightly more subtlely presented version of this.
 
In short, capitalism has run rogue. This is sowing the seeds of revolution. It will lead, at some point, to the fall of capitalism.

There used to be an unspoken bargain. (Most people are not all that greedy.) The bargain was, to work (reasonably) hard. In return, you will have a house and the stuff that goes with it, a small car, and a holiday once a year. (Maybe twice.) Your children will be educated and all your health needs will be cared for. (We recognise these latter things are in our mutual interest anyway.) You will have a reasonable pension in old age. You will be secure until you die. You might even have a few shares or something like that.

The majority were happy with this. Well happy.

This bargain has been broken for an increasing proportion of society. Even getting a house, whether buying or renting, is becoming a stretch for many. So they no longer have a stake in society. Naturally, they are starting to say 'fuck it'. They can see that almost all the wealth is being concentrated in the hands of a tiny minority. At least, the educated ones can. The less educated are led to believe (by the Daily Mail and similar outlets) that it's all the fault of immigrants, the EU and lefties. Herein lies the danger, and I would not underestimate that danger.
 
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