So that's it then, the UK is well and truly f*cked and it's time to emigrate

[World's End Stella]

according to what the Times describes as 'a centre-right think tank', 83 per cent of the public favour public ownership of water companies, 77 per cent of electricity and gas companies and 76 per cent of the railways.

Utterly astonishing.

[Burney]

according to what the Times describes as 'a centre-right think tank', 83 per cent of the public favour public ownership of water companies, 77 per cent of electricity and gas companies and 76 per cent of the railways.

Utterly astonishing.

Nationalisation is always a popular idea because everyone thinks the grass is greener on the other side. They imagine lower bills, tickets, etc, while getting the same or better service. The fact that it never, ever works out like that is only known by those who actually lived with nationalised utilities, etc.

[Ash]

according to what the Times describes as 'a centre-right think tank', 83 per cent of the public favour public ownership of water companies, 77 per cent of electricity and gas companies and 76 per cent of the railways.

Utterly astonishing.

Good. Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out.

TfL is an example of what is on-the-whole a fairly decent local government-run enterprise, with a mixture of state and privately-owned components. It plans to provide a service to the public, rather than maximum profits to the owners, and does so quite well imo.

wd TfL. Shows that there can be an alternative to privatisation dogma.

[World's End Stella]

Nationalisation is always a popular idea because everyone thinks the grass is greener on the other side. They imagine lower bills, tickets, etc, while getting the same or better service. The fact that it never, ever works out like that is only known by those who actually lived with nationalised utilities, etc.

well, yeah, but surely more than 20% of the population is old enough to remember what is was like not to mention going to the IMF to bail out the country in no small part because of it?

I suppose maybe those that are are now senile.

[Burney]

well, yeah, but surely more than 20% of the population is old enough to remember what is was like not to mention going to the IMF to bail out the country in no small part because of it?

I suppose maybe those that are are now senile.

There's enough starry-eyed old lefties out there who willingly forget that it used to take a month to get a phone line put in, that you could by law only buy telephones from one source, that British Rail was absolutely fûcking abysmal, that British Leyland basically destroyed the car industry in this country for a generation, etc, etc.

People tend to believe what they want to believe rather than harsh realities.

Thankfully, nobody ever votes for a party on the basis of whether they want to nationalise shït or not.

[Ash]

There's enough starry-eyed old lefties out there who willingly forget that it used to take a month to get a phone line put in, that you could by law only buy telephones from one source, that British Rail was absolutely fûcking abysmal, that British Leyland basically destroyed the car industry in this country for a generation, etc, etc.

People tend to believe what they want to believe rather than harsh realities.

Thankfully, nobody ever votes for a party on the basis of whether they want to nationalise shït or not.

Agree that the old nationalised industries were rubbish, but natural monopolies as private concerns is a problem too. Take BT. Cùnts. And our rail network is a shambles. We should look around for examples of well-run state enterprises. The rail in France and Germany is nationalised isn't it? And cheaper and better, I gather, than ours.

[Burney]

Agree that the old nationalised industries were rubbish, but natural monopolies as private concerns is a problem too. Take BT. Cùnts. And our rail network is a shambles. We should look around for examples of well-run state enterprises. The rail in France and Germany is nationalised isn't it? And cheaper and better, I gather, than ours.

This is a common myth. Having travelled extensively on both German and French rail networks in the last month, I can assure you that there is nothing inherently better about them than their UK counterparts. As for cheaper, if you want to go somewhere slowly, you can do so cheaply. If you want to get there while you're still young, you pay through the nose for it.

[Monty92]

There's enough starry-eyed old lefties out there who willingly forget that it used to take a month to get a phone line put in, that you could by law only buy telephones from one source, that British Rail was absolutely fûcking abysmal, that British Leyland basically destroyed the car industry in this country for a generation, etc, etc.

People tend to believe what they want to believe rather than harsh realities.

Thankfully, nobody ever votes for a party on the basis of whether they want to nationalise shït or not.

On your last point, there was a Channel 4 debate between Brexiteers last night and the reason a couple of chaps in the audience gave for voting Leave was that they hoped the freed up monies (and renewed ability to decide how we want to spend it) would enable blanket nationalisation. One of them was a a self-confessed full blown socialist.

Made me wonder how many other Leave voters are also potential Corbyn voters at the next GE

[Burney]

On your last point, there was a Channel 4 debate between Brexiteers last night and the reason a couple of chaps in the audience gave for voting Leave was that they hoped the freed up monies (and renewed ability to decide how we want to spend it) would enable blanket nationalisation. One of them was a a self-confessed full blown socialist.

Made me wonder how many other Leave voters are also potential Corbyn voters at the next GE

This is no surprise. The Bennite left has always been anti-EU.

[Luis Anaconda]

according to what the Times describes as 'a centre-right think tank', 83 per cent of the public favour public ownership of water companies, 77 per cent of electricity and gas companies and 76 per cent of the railways.

Utterly astonishing.

Could have told you that years ago