Blame financial blunders and timid regulation, not privatisation
its probably inevitable now that much stronger oversight will be brought in. In the last few days Labour have been saying thats what the plan is wether its now or in the next government. It makes sense to make the failed ones like Thames Water pay to clean up the mess, instead of letting them off the hook by nationalising. I just think its hard in principle to justify making money off an essential for life service. Its almost the same as air or the sky being private owned because the private company can clean it up.
I just think its hard in principle to justify making money off an essential for life service.
There are many good arguments for nationalising an industry - particularly a natural monopoly - but I always find ‘we need it to live’ to be a weak argument. We need food to live, we need shelter, we need clothes - would you nationalise the supermarkets, the housing stock, the fashion industry? The government’s role in these things should be to make sure that the things we need to live are made available to people, but I’m relaxed about whether the provider makes a profit for their shareholder or claims a subsidy from the taxpayer - either way, we pay for it.
I’d compare it to other utilities like electricity or railways where not only has the market entirely failed to improve the service but actually costs far more after disastrous market adventures. Any regulator would be attacked for being political at some level by some people.
The difference with electricity is that I can change provider without having to move house
There is no competition between water or train companies
