Quote:
Originally Posted by Guinness
Ah..yes the bad old days of nationalisation....
When there was and electric and gas board showroom in every town, where you could pay your bills, get complaints sorted out and everyone paid the same for each therm we used..terrible wasn't it
In a country of abundant rainfall, we had reservoirs looked after by a water board, no droughts or hosepipe bans every time the sun shone, and a water supply we paid pennies for...sheesh dunno how we managed
Plenty of social housing, plenty of jobs
Buses liveried to the town they came from, smart drivers and conductors, inspectors to complain to, reasonable fares and safe buses. Reasonably priced train services
A coal industry and a steel industry
Search and rescue that was the envy of the world, an army with equipment, a navy with ships and an airforce with planes.......
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An astute summary of many of the things that this country has lost in the privatisation mania of the last few decades. Still we have free market fanatics telling us that privatisation encourages competition, giving us more choice and better value for money. It might do when you're selling baked beans, but for essential community services, it has just led to cosy little cartels who make us pay through the nose for a mediocre product.
Water's a prime example - bills have gone spiralling up way beyond the rate of inflation, because the foreign companies who run the companies involved have no interest in providing a long term service for the British public, they've no commitment to this country, they simply want to take the money and run.
It's an over-used phrase now, but the politicians of both stripes, who run this country know the price of everything and the value of nothing.