Could public services realistically be fully renationalised again?

[taleofbluehalves]

There’s a lot of talk about Labour renationalising rail, water and mail.

I believe the rail network is in public control and the idea would be to wait for rail franchises to run out and then not renew. It’s hard to imagine with the pressure in the NHS and education alone for this to be feasible in my opinion.

Is it a realistic option?

 

[bluethrunthru]

Anything is possible I suppose. Relies on political will to do so and the backing of the electorate. What the politicians would have to be aware of is that - say in rail for example - it won't be perfect and there will be issues and they will have to accept blame sometimes. You will see that one of the political advantages of this sham privatisation is that inadequate ministers like Grayling can deflect the blame onto others.

 

[blueinsa]

With McDonnall the brains and Abbott doing the sums, anything is possible.

 

[BobKowalski]

Yes

 

[taleofbluehalves]

Yes

How would you see it working?

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

No

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

With McDonnall the brains and Abbott doing the sums, anything is possible.

Anything is indeed possible, but little would be sensible.

 

[2sheikhs]

It’s possible but it’s a question of who’d be running the various services. They’d have to be run as a business in conjunction with the needs of the customer. If for example someone running the health service thinks hospital doctors should get a pay rise and work a 35 hour week, it’s doomed. Likewise if someone treated it as a vehicle to make money and gave dividends to a few people rather than investing for improvements, it’s doomed.

 

[hilts]

No because once you change the employees from private to public, from management down, their whole attitude changes.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

No because once you change the employees from private to public, from management down, their whole attitude changes.

Like BT, British Gas, British Airways, the Railways, the water companies, electricity? All shining examples of brilliant customer service allied to giving the best deals to their customer base? Or circle, the private company that took over an NHS hospital and bailed out once it realised how difficult it was.
I suppose you could point to the banking industry as an example of the private sector doing a brilliant job and never relying on government handouts.