Tracking Price Increases

It has just been announced that rail season tickets are to increase in price by more than retail price inflation for the tenth consecutive year.
This is a disgrace.
As with most "privatisations" of public services and utilities, the former owners - the UK Public - have been left with inferior standards and higher costs.
Why did this happen?
Because Politicians in the 1980's decided two things:
1) that the Unionisation of public services and utilities made them impossible to manage
and
2) the future capital investment required could not be met from the public purse.
For my own part, I believe it is possible to manage in the public interest unionised enterprises. It requires more skills from those at the tiller than the "your fired" approach to man-management made famous by Sir Alan Sugar BUT it can be done.
As for the issue of capital investment, the returns enjoyed by the public companies currently operating these businesses are, for the most part, staggering. These virtual monopolies are gold mines without the threat of the roof falling in!
The privatisation programme was a huge mistake. It has handed the assets of our country to the private sector and left the UK Public - that's you and me, by the way - facing unaffordable annual price hikes.
It is no exaggeration to suggest that the austerity the UK now faces is largely being caused by the activities of these formerly public owned businesses.
This needs to be addressed immediately by our political masters, probably in the shape of a ten year price freeze across all of the relevant enterprises.
Over to Dave and Nick!










 

Sunday, 2nd December 2012

Back to top ↑