A case for renationalisation?
This week, George Osborne will come out for renationalisation.
However, the government has no appetite for renationalisation, despite the urging of the railway unions and the public, of whom, according to a poll conducted by MORI for The Economist, 72% support renationalisation.
A wit once described the UK Labour Party's 1983 election manifesto, with its calls for renationalisation and unilateral disarmament, as "the longest suicide note in history".
The support for renationalisation comes not from nostalgia, but from straight comparison of services in the here and now, because the railways are already part-renationalised.
Ofwat, the watchdog for an industry that is battling calls for renationalisation, found the Thames Water board did not have "sufficient oversight and control" of its leakage performance.
So naturally the coalition is going to sell it off, while Labour is in a tailspin over whether to back the highly popular demand for renationalisation.
The process could happen "with either no compensation or with any undervaluation deducted from any compensation for renationalisation" if they are disposed of too cheaply over the next five years, according to the Observer.
It was in response to what he called a "terrifying" YouGov poll commissioned by the union-backed thinktank Class, which suggested there was mass support for renationalisation of public utilities such as energy and rail, and for rent controls.
The recent crisis of confidence in government outsourcing has fuelled widespread calls for renationalisation and a revival of public ownership of essential public services and infrastructure – including health, utilities and transport systems.
The news could potentially put other franchises due to be settled in the next two years on hold and will raise questions over the whole system, with unions and Labour considering calling for renationalisation.
