MSE Poll: Do you support renationalisation of rail, energy, water and more?

HD2 · 27 September 2017 at 10:58AM

NO government, in the history of the world, has EVER run ANYTHING efficiently, effectively - or for the benefit of the end-user.

The secret is Darwinism (and always was and always WILL be)

Diversity + Competition = Progress

Sadly, 'Nature is red in tooth and claw' is not acceptable to our squeamish politicians, who seek to deny Darwinism - and have as much success as Canute.

sensibleshoes · 27 September 2017 at 11:28AM

Surprised to see National Express as the example given for bus service as it doesn't operate what I describe as bus service.

Companies such as First & Go Ahead would be my examples and yes definitely renationalise as the privatisation of the bus network is a failure for passengers but great for shareholders.

Gillian_Brown · 27 September 2017 at 11:51AM

I remember the time before rail privitisation. The trains were always filthy both inside and out and the timekeeping was just awful. As there were no profits no one had any interest in improving the service. The unions were supreme so were always on strike. Ok it's not perfect today especially some services, but it's heaps better than it was. Also nationalised we would not be able to switch our essential services for a better deal as we can now.

Nick_C · 27 September 2017 at 12:08PM

I used British Rail a lot in the 1970s and 80s

Inter City trains were clean, comfortable, and affordable. You could get a good freshly cooked meal on most long distance trains for a fair price.

BR was well run but was starved of investment.

The High Speed Train / IC125 was world class, and is still running. The IC225 never achieved 225 kph in service because the tracks and signalling were never upgraded to an acceptable standard, and that remains the case. The APT got as far as test running, ran into a few problems, and the Government pulled the plug. The Italians took the idea and produced the Pendolino, which ironically now runs on the WCML.

Trains used to be a service. Now they are a profit centre. Less profitable services such as London to Blackpool have been closed, devastating for residents, visitors, and the conference business.

And yet the privatised train services remain heavily subsidised monopoly services.

I'm not in favour of wholesale renationalisation but we should take the railways back in house as franchises expire. ECML operated an excellent service during its recent spell in state control. Letting a new franchise on this route was purely idealogical.

Eric_the_half_a_bee · 27 September 2017 at 12:14PM

Nick_C wrote: »

The High Speed Train / IC125 was world class.

Rose tinted spectacles. Yes it was a world class diesel locomotive, but it was only needed because, unlike most of Western Europe, the state owned BR had failed to invest in the electrification of its network.

BMW51K · 27 September 2017 at 1:47PM

It doesn't matter what political party you vote for; what does matter is if you are a consumer or not of the services. In all of the services sectors, when run by government and civil services they lacked any kind of commitment to customer service (as there was no alternative customers could go to) or to improving their price performance, and the management had a very short term view that severely limited their commitment in investment to improve their services. Civil servants just do not take risks or apply entrepreneurial decision making - they want a cosy life.
It's almost certainly the case that if BT was in government hands, we'd be way behind on the many advances in telephony, let alone having high speed internet in most parts of the UK. Ok BT are less than perfect, but they were pretty abysmal when managed by whichever government happened to be in power.
Similarly, the pressure on water companies to improve water supply and quality, and to tackle leaks is more easily applied by civil servants (i.e. OFWAT) who do not have to be responsible for delivering those improvements, or who are measured by short term political issues, not long term sustainable businesses.

And who's memory has faded so badly that they think British Rail was a good service that always ran on time, and had clean trains? That organisation was so large that it just could not cope, and had old dilapidated rolling stock.

donny_jim · 27 September 2017 at 1:56PM

I didn't vote because you didn't have a fourth option, which is a combination of the two. I think it would be good for public and private to compete for the rail franchises. North eastern rail was doing well in public ownership, the Tories should not have re privatised it.

donny_jim · 27 September 2017 at 2:07PM

Stockie wrote: »

There's several like water and phone where I'd like a hybrid where the state owns and maintains the infrastructure but private companies provide the services. BT openreach do such a bad job at times at getting stuff sorted, and we could have lower prices across the sector if they didn't have a (near) monopoly.

I think the problem here is that the regulator is too weak, if open reach had to pay say £10p.d. ( based on 5day week =£50p.w. )from the day a problem is reported, I think things would get better. Possibly more for businesses.

donny_jim · 27 September 2017 at 2:18PM

macskin wrote: »

Selling of state owned assets to fund small tax cuts and say they have balanced the books have instead sold the family silver of on the cheep and it is only now that there is nothing left to sell do we see how they have failed our future generations. Yes they made a small sum of money at once making them selfs look good. If they had not sold the family silver of to be asset stripped to the bone and not invest in the company the state owned assets would of given government after government there profits which would of resulted in over time brining in more money than they were sold for and keep bringing in more money.
It is amazing how many state owned assets that the UK government has sold of now belong to foreign governments resulting in the British public funding not our own tax breaks but that of other countries.
Even in Brexit we tell the French government how we will deal with Brexit long before article 50 is singed this was done when the PM had talked with Nissan

Yes a lot of our utilities are owned by foreign countries, does anyone know how they do it in their country. Could we not use the same model ?, just a thought.

donny_jim · 27 September 2017 at 2:38PM

9411john wrote: »

I suspect that some of your poll results will be heavily dependent upon the voter's location as well as how internet savvy they are (e.g. to switch energy supplier). I can remember the good (sic) old days of overpaid nationalised industry employees who would not know what a proper days job was and who would hold the country to ransom at a whim! Even today we have some 'nationalised' areas where people keep bleating about their pay forgetting how good their pensions are compared to the vast number of people in the private industries. However, I feel that there is a role for government either as share holder or by imposing legal requirements (with heavy fines for non compliance) in all essential services.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, but those days are long gone. Mrs Thatcher saw to that. But that is why I don't believe in total nationalisation or total privatisation, a mix of the two hopefully keeps everyone honest. Just as I do not think public sector bosses should be on more than 100k a year. That includes M.P.s with the possible exception of the P.M.

MSE Poll: Do you support renationalisation of rail, energy, water and more?

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